


Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Legends

by Lugialvr1994



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Complete, Eventual Romance, Female Protagonist, Gen, Gen Work, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 21:31:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 39
Words: 94,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11609349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lugialvr1994/pseuds/Lugialvr1994
Summary: In a dawning world, a young woman awakens as a Pokémon and endeavors to create a new life for herself. Free of her past, she intends to make good use of her second chance.This story is not part of my previous series, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ruins of Civilization.





	1. Prologue: A Scout’s Patrol

**Author's Note:**

> Hello to any new readers, welcome. This story should update once a week, each Friday, ideally. 
> 
> To those of you who have been reading my previous stories and were expecting this one, thank you for reading my previous work. However, you should know that I ended up deciding that this story, while technically finished and edited, needs to receive additional revisions in order for it to represent a reasonable standard of quality. In order to accommodate these revisions, this story will post a new chapter only once a week, on Fridays. Therefore, the first “real chapter” of this story will go up this Friday. It is also possible that some weeks I will not post a new chapter or that I will eventually be able to return to a twice a week posting schedule. Please understand that I am making this decision in the interests of improving the overall quality of this story. 
> 
> Also, for new and old readers, this story is not a continuation of my previous, 4-5 part, series, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ruins of Civilization. This story and that series technically share a “multiverse,” but they do not have much connection in terms of plot. Also, this story features Generation 7 Pokémon and moves, unlike my previous stories. It will not feature Z-Moves, though. Unlike PMD: ROC, this story does feature a human-turned Pokémon protagonist. However, this story is my own take on that concept and does not necessarily follow all the “rules” that the canon PMD games have set up. Finally, it is worth saying that even though many of my previous author’s notes announcing and mentioning this story suggested that it would be standalone, I have begun to consider writing at least one sequel to this story. The possibility of a sequel will be confirmed, or rejected, in later author’s notes. Also, I apologize in advance for any paragraph tabbing issues that you might experience. With all of that out of the way, please enjoy the story.

            The young Rowlet, who went by Ryan, flew out over an expanse of green plains. To the north of him was his home, Creekside Town, and the river that it bordered. The sun has just barely begun to rise over the plains and it was still reasonably dark outside, but Ryan’s eyes were able to pierce the darkness. His mission was as simple as it had ever been: it was his turn for patrol duty that early morning. As one of the Creekside Scouts’ newest, and proudest, recruits, he was to keep an eye out for any threats to his home coming from any direction. The young Scout took his duties seriously, he wanted to make both his family and his Wing-Commander proud.

            Ryan spent what felt like hours dutifully patrolling the skies making sure to double check any wild Pokémon in the area, to see if they were wandering close to town. As he started to make a course north for home, ready to report in with no unusual activity, he noticed something.

            Under a tree, which stood very near the road to Creekside Town, he saw what appeared to be a sleeping female Sneasel. Ryan thought to himself, “Odd, I did not see her coming up the road. Also, none of the Scouts patrolling earlier mentioned a Sneasel coming up the road.”

            Ryan considered landing. However, as the sun continued to rise, he realized that his time to report in to the Wing-Commander was fast approaching.

Ryan was torn between investigating the stranger, or reporting her presence to his boss without speaking with the mysterious new arrival himself. Then, an idea flickered across Ryan’s mind. He thought, “Oh yeah, Leo likes doing odd jobs for money. I could go see if he is awake and offer him some coins to check out the Sneasel. After reporting in, I would go check on him to make sure he has done his job and pay him for the help.”

Having made up his mind, Ryan continued his flight back home to Creekside. He had an old friend to visit before he reported back to base.


	2. A Different World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the first real chapter of the story. Thankfully, no formatting issues this time.

            Annika opened up her eyes. She was still a bit groggy, as she stretched out her arms to her sides and yawned. She then looked up a bit and noticed a Cyndaquil standing in front of her. Annika gave a slightly confused smile and asked, “How did you get in here?”

            Much to Annika’s surprise, the Cyndaquil asked her back, in a male voice, “In where, miss?”

            Annika’s eyes opened wide and she then looked around and above her and saw that she was laying under a tree somewhere outdoors. Around her was an expanse of flat plains with the occasional tree. A river could be seen to the north of her with what appeared to be a medium-sized town in front of it. She then sat up and said, “I must be dreaming. Pokémon cannot talk to humans. I have never heard of that at least…”

            The Cyndaquil staggered back a bit and then interrupted, “Humans? I heard once that some of them live on continents across the sea…that does not even matter here, you are a Sneasel, not a human.”

            Annika was about to reply when she looked down at her hands and realized that they were now white claws coming out of dark gray arms. She then froze for a moment and then continued, “Now I know that I have to be dreaming.”

            The Cyndaquil then responded, “You are not dreaming, miss. I know that because I know that I am real.” He was looking at Annika as if she were insane. “If I were you, I would not pinch yourself, since your claws are sharper than your skin is thick.”

            Annika folded her arms and then asked, “Ok, if you are real, what is your name, if you have one?”

            The Cyndaquil quickly responded, “You can call me Leopold or Leo for short. What is your name?”

            Annika quickly replied, “My name is Annika. So, Leo, is there any way that you can prove that I became a Sneasel overnight and am not dreaming?”

            As Annika was finishing up her statement, Leo walked up to her and used his stubby arms to pinch her arm, hard. Annika let out a short yelp of pain and then looked around again, seeming deeply confused. Leo then asked her, “So, Annika, do you believe me now?”

            Annika slowly nodded. She felt as though a burden that she never thought would leave her shoulders had been lifted. Suddenly, she stood up and embraced Leo. Annika then felt a deep sense of embarrassment come through in her mind. She quickly leapt back and blushed, saying, “Sorry about that…”

            Leo blushed a bit as well and then asked Annika, “What was that for, proving to you that you are not dreaming?”

            Annika replied, “Yes, I guess. You have to understand that I really was a human. I was abandoned at birth and left in an orphanage. I lost any friends I had there when…well, what matters now is that someone powerful has answered my prayers! I am going to be able to live a new life! I will have to get used to being a lot shorter though, that is for sure.”

            Leo did not know how to react, he then slowly responded, “I think that you bonked your head on that tree hard. However, you seem harmless enough. I should take you back to town, if you are willing. You can stay there for a week, possibly more.”

            Annika asked, “Why would I only be able to stay for a week?”

            Leo responded, “In Creekside Town, the law is that anyone who wants to move into town has a weeklong grace period. After that, they are taken by the Town Watch to see the Patrician, the elected leader of the settlement. The Patrician hears the new arrival’s case and then decides whether or not the Pokémon can become a citizen. There are a few special cases, but normally it is just a yes or no decision. If you decide you want to stay in Creekside Town, then you should find a way to make yourself useful to our society.”

            Annika nodded and then asked Leo, “Ok, so where do you live, then?”

            Leo smiled and said, “I just moved into a new house. It has a small room to the side, which I am not using. I have an extra straw bed you can sleep on. However, if I let you stay with me for a week, then I need you to do something for me.”

            Annika raised an eyebrow and then asked, “What would that be?”

            Leo responded, “For one, do not mention your belief in your former humanity to anyone else, unless I say that it is ok. I am not sure how others will react to that claim. Secondly, there is a certain friend of mine I would like to impress. I wonder if she will become jealous if she sees another female living with me…”

            Annika sighed and then interjected, “I assume that you don’t just want to be friends with this girl? Anyway, I agree, only because I need a place to stay and someone who can tell me more about where I am. I am only going to live in your house with you, though. No kissing or anything like that.”

            Leo then nodded and responded, “Of course, I only really have feelings for one girl, anyway.” He then motioned for Annika to follow him back to town.

            Annika nodded as she followed Leo, she then asked him, “What do you do for a living, Leo? Also, how did you find me when I was asleep?”

            Leo responded, “I am an odd jobs Pokémon. I do whatever others will pay me for, within my capabilities. Sometimes I do dock work, sometimes I help with construction jobs, etc. I found you because my friend Ryan was flying around the plains south of the river on patrol, saw you and asked me to investigate as his shift was nearing its end and he had to report to the Wing-Commander. He will probably be waiting for us in town.”

            Annika then asked, “Is Ryan a solider of some kind?”

            Leo responded, “He is a Scout. The Scouts are the closest thing we have to an army. It is their job to patrol the area around the town and keep their eyes out for incoming wild Pokémon, bandits, or anyone or anything else hostile. The Wing-Commander is the Scout’s leader. Ryan and the other Scouts report to her and she reports to the Patrician.”

            Annika did her best to absorb what Leo had told her, she then asked, “What about this girl you want me to help you impress?”

            As the duo neared the town, Leo sighed and said, “Her name is Sapphire, she is a Popplio girl who I have known since childhood. She has a steady job working for our town’s dock manager. That is all you need to know for now.”

            Annika nodded quietly, she then asked, “This may seem random, but do your people have a religion of any kind?”

            Leo nodded and answered, “Our Prelate has served many Patricians before Marius, our current leader. She leads worship of the Lady Suicune, our patron goddess, from the shrine close to the docks. The river that has allowed our town to become an important stopping point for traders and travelers trying to cross the center of this island. It is named Suicune’s River in her honor. Why do you ask?”

            Annika hesitantly replied, “I have had some bad experiences with religion before. But that is my business. For now, lets’ get to your home and see if we can finalize our deal.”

            As they neared the town’s southern entrance, Leo finished, “Prelate Aurelia has always been a perfectly nice Pokémon in my experience.” Leo’s tone of voice implied further curiosity about Annika’s past issues with religion, but he said nothing else.

            As they neared Creekside Town, Annika was getting used to her new body very quickly. She was just glad that whatever cosmic force had made her into a Pokémon had chosen a humanoid form for her. She then followed Leo in through the entrance of the town, which seemed unguarded at the time.

            Almost as soon as they entered the town, a Rowlet flew out of the sky and landed in front of Leo and Annika, who were now standing side by side. Ryan then asked Leo, “So, this is the girl I asked you to investigate? What’s her story? The Scouts who were patrolling last night did not see her. However, when I was patrolling early this morning, there she was.”

            Leo looked somewhat taken aback as he heard about Annika’s sudden appearance. He then responded, “Well, this is Annika. She is going to stay with me until she is called before the Patrician. She seems nice enough, I will take responsibility if she does anything harmful while she stays at my house. You should know by now that I would not do anything foolish.”

            Ryan nodded and then added, “I will report back to Wing-Commander Serena with this information.” He then looked over at Annika and asked her, “Do you know how you got under that tree?”

            Annika shrugged her shoulders as Leo looked over at her, she then replied, “I was walking north and I got so tired that I had to stop under the tree to sleep. Maybe my skin blended in so well with the night that your Scouts did not notice me? Maybe they thought I was wild? Maybe I moved up in between Scout shifts? Either way, I mean your town no harm.”

            Ryan gave Annika a bit of a look, but then he nodded at Leo and passed him a few tan-colored coins. Ryan then said, “I will trust your judgement on this, Leo. Make sure that if she wants to become a citizen here, she is ready to speak with Patrician Marius in a week.”

            Ryan then took off leaving Leo and Annika together. Leo then smiled at Annika and told her, “Nice work, for someone unprepared at least. Maybe you are telling the truth? The chances of you having avoided the Scouts detection on your way to that tree are low, if you came from the south. However, please don’t tell anyone else, they will almost certainly not believe you.”

            Annika nodded and then told Leo, “I will try to keep my origins secret for now. Now, lets’ go to your house.” Annika then smiled down at Leo and added, “It will stay our secret for now.”

            Leo nodded and then led Annika through the streets of Creekside Town. It was not long until they reached a small reddish-orange brick house, which was constructed in the shape of a dome with a small doorway in the front and a few windows on the sides. There was also a bulge coming out from one of the building’s sides and a chimney coming out from the top towards the back of the house.

            Leo told Annika, “Home sweet home. Follow me inside.” He then produced a key and walked up to the door with Annika in tow. Leo then unlocked the door and then walked inside, with Annika following him in.

            Leo used the light that crept in through the windows of the main room of his house to find some candles scattered throughout the room. He then began to light them with small plumes of fire that he breathed out. Once the main room was lit, Annika entered. She looked around to see that there were two curtains, one at the back edge and one on a side of the room, leading into other rooms. She also saw a couple of barrels of food, a table with a couple of stools and a fireplace in the room. On one of the back walls, what looked to be a map of an island hung. Leo took his newly earned coins and placed them inside of a small box under one of the room’s windowsills.

            Annika then asked, “Where will I sleep?”

            Leo responded, “The room through the curtain to the side is the one I am not using, I will move by second bed in there soon. I am going out to do see if I can make more money today soon, I want to see if I can find Sapphire while I am out, so I will want you with me. You can take a look at your room before we go out.”  

            As Leo went to go get the second bed from his bedroom, Annika walked through the curtain and found herself in a small, slightly dark, room. She saw that there were a few unlit candles in the room. The only current light source of the room was a small window.

            Leo then entered the room, dragging a small straw bed, which looked big enough for Annika to curl up on. Annika helped Leo to place the bed in a corner close to the window. Leo then said, “We are going to head off now. Sorry that you will not have time to get settled in yet.”

            Annika nodded and then followed Leo outside, saying, “I appreciate your extraordinary hospitality. I want to see more of your town, anyway. I am still excited about the chance to make a new life for myself here.”

            After he locked the door, Leo asked Annika, “I would honestly like to hear more about your memories of your supposed human life. More importantly for now, do you have any ideas about how you plan to make a living here if you are accepted as a citizen?”

            Annika nodded yes and then, as the duo set off into town, told Leo, “Yes, it is a little bold, but if nothing like it exists here yet, there is a business of sorts I would like to start. We can talk more about it later, maybe after you introduce me to this Sapphire of yours.”

            Leo blushed a bit and nodded, he then responded, “I would like to hear your idea. For now, let’s head towards the docks and see if the manager needs any help there.”

            Annika agreed, still taking in the sights of Creekside Town as she followed Leo north.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect the next chapter next Friday. Thank you all for reading.


	3. Creekside Town

            Annika followed Leo through the streets of Creekside Town. While there were a decent number of local Pokémon out and about, the streets were pleasantly uncrowded. Annika surveyed the settlement as they were walking north, still somewhat astonished at what seemed to have happened to her and pleasantly surprised that Pokémon could build a functioning society of their own. She had realized that the world she had ended up in had a considerably lower level of technology than where she had grown up. She saw no vehicles, or anything that looked powered by electricity, or even steam.

            As for the town’s structures, the shops and homes that made up most of the buildings the duo passed were made of stone, brick, wood, or a combination of those materials. Most of them were only one or two stories tall. The streets of the town were paved with a solid-looking grey-tan colored material, which was punctuated with the occasional cobblestone sticking out.

            After Annika followed Leo past an area containing a well-guarded looking gate, which Leo said was the entrance to the government district of the town, they found themselves walking alongside one of the banks of Suicune’s River. Leo mentioned, “The name Creekside was come up with because it sounded better to our founders than ‘streamside’ or something similar. This river is large enough to float trading vessels of varying sizes down it. Patrician Marius’s predecessor oversaw the building of an arching bridge over some high banks on the river nearby where we are now. Vessels usually go under it when they are approaching or departing the docks.”

            Annika nodded as they walked up to where she saw at least four separate primitive watercrafts docked at the small port. A fifth craft, a long but thin boat, was pulling in to an empty spot at the dock. A number of Pokémon along the docks were helping to load, unload and inspect cargo. An odd-looking Pokémon which Annika was pretty sure was called a Barbaracle, was walking toward the newly arrived boat, with a pair of Poliwhirl in tow.

            Leo then told Annika, “That Barbaracle is Alexander, the dock manager. He makes sure that everything at the docks works according to regulations. Some items have been declared to be contraband and are not allowed to be stored or sold here. Alexander has to make sure that nobody tries to smuggle anything illegal into town. What matters to us right now is that he is Sapphire’s boss. She should be somewhere around the docks as we speak.”

            Annika looked around and then noticed a Popplio directing a Politoed who was carrying a crate over to an orderly pile of similar crates. She pointed out what she saw to Leo who nodded, took a deep breath and then said, “I will go and talk to her. I will see when she will be able to come over and talk with us.”

            Annika waited as Leo walked over to talk with Sapphire. She noticed that a few of the Pokémon in the area were giving her brief looks. She wondered why they were doing so as Leo began to converse with Sapphire. Leo walked back alone and then said, “She is busy working until this evening. However, she wants to come over to my house for dinner later today. I will take you back home and then go and see if I can do some odd jobs today.”

            Annika nodded and then asked Leo, “Why don’t I follow you around while you look for work. I want to see more of this place and I could also stand to make some money…since I have none. You can tell me more about yourself, or what you want me to say to Sapphire when she comes over later while we are out.”

            Leo nodded and smiled back at Annika, he responded, “Sounds good to me. You should try to make a few Poké anyway, since I won’t want to host you forever, assuming if you do become a citizen of this town. We will go over what I want you to say to Sapphire as we are looking for some small jobs.”

            Annika nodded and then added, “Also, I still have my own project idea for later, too. I would like to bring it up to you and Sapphire tonight, if possible. So, what do you want me to tell Sapphire tonight?”

            Leo, as they were walking towards what appeared to be a residential area, said, “Nothing too complicated, just say that you have no home or family and that I have been kind enough to take you in for the week before you are brought before the Patrician. Maybe bring up how I have let you use a bed and the ‘guest room’ in my newly purchased home. I don’t know how she would react to your story about being a human.”

            Annika then asked Leo, as they began searching for likely places to do odd jobs, “Have you told her that you have feelings for her yet? Maybe she will respond well if you just tell her how you feel?”

            Leo sighed and nodded his head no, he then told Annika, “I have not told her that I have feelings for her. I would like for her to make the first real move. I want to convince her that we would make a wonderful couple without her realizing how I feel too quickly.”

            Annika folded her arms and then replied, “That sounds hard. However, a deal is a deal. I will help you as best as I can without giving away your true intentions. If I were you, I would just tell her how you feel. If she rejects you, then at least you know that you should not necessarily keep pursuing her romantically.”

            Leo gave the closest thing to a shrug he could give and then said, “I appreciate the advice, but for now let’s focus on seeing what work we can find around here.”

            Annika nodded and then followed Leo further south into the residential area.

            Annika and Leo spent most of the day working on fixing the roof of one of Creekside Town’s larger houses. Annika did her best to quickly and discreetly get more used to her new, two fingered, clawed hands. She was still considerably more dexterous than Leo and she was much more easily able to scale ladders and use tools in only one hand than he was. Once the roof was repaired to the clients’ satisfaction, the duo received some Poké coins for their work. Leo then led Annika back to his house to begin preparing for dinner. On the way back, Annika bought a small, basic, cloth purse which she used to hold her newly-earned money.  

            It was late in the afternoon when Leo and Annika returned to the small house. Leo, who had been carrying a small pouch that he used to hold his money and house key, unlocked the door. Annika put her new purse in the “guest room” where she was to stay, she then walked back into the main room and saw that Leo had relit the room’s candles. Leo then told Annika, “I will start getting dinner ready. It is up to you whether or not you want to help me.”

            Annika smiled back at Leo and then added, “It was actually nice for me to do some work and make a bit of money. I normally don’t get a chance to do that sort of thing. I assume that Sapphire will be here shortly. Any final instructions you need to give me before she gets here?”

            Leo thought for a moment, as he began to remove some food items from a few barrels, he then told Annika, “Don’t actually say anything that would make it seem like there could be anything romantic between us. I do not want Sapphire to think that we are dating, just make her realize that if she does not end up with, someone else could.”

            Annika blushed and then told Leo, “If we are going to be friends, associates, whatever, then you should probably know that I would never even consider dating a boy….”

            Leo turned over to look at Annika and interjected, “Oh, you like other females? Well, if this works and she gets jealous, we can just tell Sapphire that and she will see that our relationship won’t advance beyond friendship and that you are not really a competitor for her in terms of my affections.”

            Annika breathed a sigh of relief that Leo had not been troubled by her revelation. She then added, “Honestly, I am not sure if am going to be attracted to anyone now? I don’t know yet if I am ever going to want to find a Pokémon girlfriend? I am still wondering who is responsible for my transformation in the first place.” Annika shook her head and then continued, “Anyway, I might as well see if I can help you make dinner. The work will go faster that way.”

            Leo shrugged and then allowed Annika to stand next to him. The two of them spent the next around an hour working on getting three plates of food ready for dinner. Leo and Annika then placed the plates around Leo’s dinner table.

            Not long after the duo had gotten dinner all ready, there was a knock at the door. Leo quietly told Annika, “That’s probably her. I’ll get the door. You can have a seat.”

            Annika gave Leo a half-joking salute and then sat down at the table. Leo opened the door and Annika saw that the Popplio from before was “standing” in front of the doorway.

            Leo smiled at Sapphire and told her, “Good to see you again. Come inside, we have just finished up preparing dinner. You had excellent timing, as usual.”

            Sapphire followed Leo into his house. Annika noticed that Sapphire was quite adept at using her frontal flippers to propel herself forward while sliding on her stomach.

            Sapphire took the opposite spot at the table from Annika, while Leo sat in between the two girls. Sapphire asked Annika, “So, Leo tells me you are his new, and first, house guest. Apparently, you don’t have a family or other associations to fall back on? I hope that you are able to come up with a reason to let Patrician Marius grant you citizen status, if you decide you want to stay here.”

            Annika nodded, as they all began eating, she then replied, “Leo found me sleeping under a tree on the plains to the south of here. It seems that his friend Ryan the Scout found me earlier and paid Leo to investigate. He has been extremely gracious in letting me stay here for a week and allowing me to help him with his work around town.”

            Sapphire nodded and then added, “Well, I know that Leo is a fundamentally nice guy. I have known him since we were children.”

            Leo smiled and then added, “I am just trying to help someone who has no one else to turn to. Annika actually told me earlier that she had an idea for a business of sorts. Annika, you have not elaborated on that yet. Why don’t you tell us what your idea is?”

            Annika looked at Leo and then at Sapphire, she then took a moment to think. She then stood up and said, “I was wondering if this town has any sort of explorers’ society? The world seems not that heavily civilized and there is plenty of terrain open to be explored. I don’t know about you two, but I would like to have some adventures, not just do odd jobs or work a routine job. I assume that a group of explorers could get all sorts of contracts to help rescue lost Pokémon, fight dangerous wild Pokémon off, explore ruins and caverns, chart new territories, etc.”

            Leo was about to say something when Sapphire smiled at Annika and said, “I actually like that idea. I always wanted to explore areas outside of Creekside. My only contact with the world beyond so far has been through brief conversations with traders and travelers who have docked here. I might take the risk of joining an adventurers’ club if you could get one started.”

            Leo looked slightly awkward and then said, “Well, you know that it is dangerous to stray too far from the civilized areas. Not only are there the usual wild Pokémon and bandits, and the occasional cultists, but reports keep coming in of attacks by the Legendary Bird Articuno in the northern half of the island.”

            Annika then pointed out, “I assume, based on what you two have said, that there is no such organization in this town at the moment.”

            Sapphire replied, “Not at the moment. If you want to form this group, I would join it, honestly. Dock work pays well, but it gets old and plenty of Pokémon around here would be willing to apply for my job if I resigned. As for the rumors of Articuno attacks, we will probably stay on the southern half of the island for now. Besides, the weather effects of a Legendary Bird approaching should give us plenty of warning to find a safe place to hide. So, Leo, are you in? You don’t even have a steady job as is.”

            Leo took a deep breath and then told Sapphire, “If Annika can convince Patrician Marius to let her found this adventurers’ society, then I will join in. I would not want you to be harmed, Sapphire, seeing as though we are old friends.”

            As Annika looked on, Sapphire smiled at Leo and asked, “Leo, as nice as you normally are, it seems like you are being a little overly kind and trusting by letting someone share your home…”

            Leo quickly interjected, “It will only be for a week, probably. If Annika is allowed to become a citizen, then she will either find a new place to stay, or I will ask her to pay rent for her use of my guest room. I am just trying to do the right thing. Annika had no money when I found her, and after our work today, she still certainly does not have enough to afford a house, or even an extended stay in an inn room.”

            Sapphire then continued, “Leo, when we talked earlier today, you mentioned what you were doing for Annika to me very specifically. I know that you are trying to make me jealous. You should know that I am comfortable with being your friend for now. Maybe when we are a bit older we will give dating a try?”

            Leo was dumbstruck. Annika just kept eating. He then stammered, “Sapphire… I am in love with you, it’s as simple as that. I will do whatever it takes to win your love, including risking my life as part of this adventuring society. That is, if it gets off of the ground.” Leo then sighed, turned to Annika, and said, “Annika, maybe you were right about my being honest with her. It seems like she already knew how I feel.”

            Sapphire nodded and then added, “Yes, the word love seems a bit much right now, but I have known that you had feelings for me for quite some time. Now, let’s have a nice dinner. Maybe we can work on planning the creation of our adventuring society tomorrow?”  

            Annika then smiled and nodded yes, she then turned to Leo and asked him, “That was unexpected. Can I still stay here for now?”

            Leo nodded yes and then said, “Don’t worry, Annika, a deal is a deal. You can stay here for the rest of the week. Just be ready in about six or seven days when the Town Watch Pokémon come to take you to see Patrician Marius.”

            Annika nodded, relieved that Leo was not going to kick her out now that his plan had been foiled, and then finished her meal.

            After dinner, Sapphire, who said she would have a much shorter shift at work the next day, left after agreeing to meet Leo and Annika at Leo’s house at noon the next day. Annika and Leo each went off to bed, after Annika heard Leo tell her that he was not ready to give up on Sapphire yet, since she had not rejected him outright.

            Annika laid down on her bed and began to fall asleep, hoping that when she woke up, she would still be a Pokémon and far away from her past life.


	4. Preparing the Proposal

            When Annika woke up, she was greatly relieved that she was still a Sneasel. She stretched, yawned and then walked in to the main room of Leo’s house. She saw that Leo was already awake and was almost finished making some breakfast for the two of them.

            Leo looked over to Annika and smiled at her, saying, “Good morning. You look rested. I have some food almost finished for the two of us. I do want to apologize to you for something, however.”

            Annika gave Leo an inquisitive look and then asked him, “What do you feel the need to apologize for? You have been a gracious host. I don’t know where I would be now without you.”

            Leo blushed a bit and responded, “I felt that, even though you were receiving room and board from me, I was sort of using you to advance my ‘agenda’ of trying to impress Sapphire. I am sorry about that. To try to make it up to you, I will help you try and set up this adventurers’ club of yours. I think we need to nail down a name for it first, though.”

            Annika smiled at Leo and then told him, “Don’t worry about it. I felt a bit used, but my happiness at being away from my previous situation has overridden any anxiety I would have had at the idea of being a ‘pawn’ in your plans. And yes, once we meet up with Sapphire at noon, we will brainstorm a name for our explorers’ society.”

            Leo then asked Annika, as he was wrapping up breakfast for himself and his guest, “Are you interested in finding out who or what is responsible for your transformation and transportation here? At this point, I feel like you are not lying, or hallucinating about your former humanity. You don’t seem crazy at all to me.”

            Annika walked over to the table, as Leo was bringing their food over. She then replied, as he sat down, “As far as I know, there is no way to find out who or what answered my prayers and for what reason. All I know is that I remember a human life where I had no family or friends. Once I came out as a lesbian, all of my friends at the orphanage abandoned me. The staff even began to treat me with unprecedented harshness. I think that they even discouraged prospective foster parents from adopting me because they did not want to saddle them with a lesbian child. I only was saved from being thrown out into the streets by the small amount of mercy they had for me. The orphanage was run by a religious order, if you are still wondering why I am bothered by religion.”

            Leo looked a bit stunned and then, as he sat down to eat with Annika, said, “I don’t think you deserved all of that, or any of it for that matter. …Thank you for being willing to share that with me.”

            Annika nodded at Leo and then told him, “At least I am no longer alone in the world. I have you and Sapphire now, right?”

            As the duo began to dig in, Leo sighed, nodded yes and then responded, “Yes, you have me and Sapphire. We will help you out as best as we can.”

            Annika smiled back at Leo and then asked him, “So, what’s the deal with your other friend, Ryan? I remember encountering him at the entrance to town.”

            Leo explained, “Ryan was sort of the third friend in our group growing up. His family has lived in Creekside since its founding and watched the town grow into a prosperous settlement, thanks to its strategic location as a safe stopping point for traders and travelers. He is a real Creekside patriot. That is why he joined the Scouts, even though he is comparatively inexperienced in actual combat.”

            Annika nodded and then the duo got back to eating.

            After finishing up their breakfast, Annika and Leo headed out of the house to try and find some quick work. They ended up helping some merchants transport their goods from nearby the docks to a marketplace stall they had rented. Then, they helped the same merchants set up the items they had for sale.

            After being paid for their work, Annika and Leo returned to Leo’s house. As soon as they were back inside, Leo put his newly-earned money away and Annika put her money-filled purse in her room next to her bed. The duo then ate a quick lunch and soon after that, Sapphire arrived, having eaten on her way over after the conclusion of her shift for the day.

            After the trio had assembled in the main room of Leo’s house, Sapphire asked, “So, I assume that we are all in agreement that we are going to present the concept for a local explorers’ club to the Patrician when Annika is called before him?”

            Leo and Annika both nodded and then Annika asked, “We need a name first. Do either of you have any ideas?”

            Leo then responded, “I think that the name for the organization should include the word Creekside in it. That should both make our idea seem more attractive to the Patrician and identify to potential clients where our home base is.”

            Sapphire then added, “We just need to choose what we will really call this new organization, all we know is that it will start with the name Creekside.”

            Annika thought for a moment and then seemed to have an epiphany of sorts. She then told the others, “I kind of like the name ‘Creekside Adventurers’ Society.’ Adventurers’ sounds less specialized than explorers’, since we will want to look capable of taking on different kinds of jobs. Club sounds too childish. Society sounds more mature. So, I think we should be the Creekside Adventurers’ Society…or CAS for short.”

            Sapphire replied, “It was your idea, Annika. Therefore, you should be the one who gets to name the organization. I cannot think of anything better, so CAS it is.”

            Leo, who Annika knew was unlikely to disagree with Sapphire, simply nodded and then said, “Well, that is one thing down. We have a name now. We can worry about attracting other potential members once we have gotten a base of operations.”

            Annika then asked, “Are there any existing buildings in this town that we could convert into a base? I don’t blame you for being unwilling to use your house for this, Leo.”

            Sapphire suddenly seemed to be deep in thought, she then mentioned, “There is an old smaller warehouse nearby the docks that they stopped using to store goods a little while ago. No one is using it now, but it is still property of the local government. The government of Creekside Town uses its active storage areas to make some revenue by charging both traders and local merchants to store goods in them. We could try and convince the Patrician to have Dock Manager Alexander give us the property. We would still need to both purchase our own supplies and make a sign for the building.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “We will need to convince this leader of yours, Marius, not only to let me stay in this town, but that the CAS is an idea worthy of his support.”

            Leo then suggested, “Maybe we should not begin buying supplies until we have the Patrician’s approval. We don’t want to spend a lot of money without a guarantee that Annika will be allowed to stay in town.”

            Sapphire nodded in agreement and then suggested, “Maybe you two should keep doing odd jobs around town, so that you have some money to spend on setting the CAS up and keeping it maintained. I will keep working at the docks until we can get approval.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “If we are somewhat prepared, then we will have a higher chance of approval. We should have some kind of a ‘business’ plan to share with Patrician Marius. Also, we should have some ideas for places to explore and other things to do that would provide a benefit to the community.”

            Leo smiled and then responded, “I think I know just the Pokémon to ask. Annika, you remember Ryan from yesterday, right?”

            Annika simply nodded, remembering the Pokémon who had hired Leo to investigate her unconscious body. She also remembered that she had asked Leo about him earlier.

            Leo then continued, “Ryan, as you both know, is a member of the local Scouts, the closest thing we have to a militia. We should go speak with him to see what he knows about regional events outside of town, other than the Legendary Bird attacks.”

            Sapphire seemed to agree with Leo. She then said, “Leo and I know where he lives. We should go to see him now, actually. I don’t think he should have a patrol shift now, if my memory serves.”

            Annika shrugged and then replied, “Sure, we can go see him. Do you think he will want to help us?”

            Leo then chuckled and told Annika, “He is one of our oldest friends. I don’t think he would leave his job with the Scouts for the CAS, though. He is very proud of his work, since it involves keeping Creekside Town safe. So yes, he should at least be willing to tell us about any local or regional problems that the CAS could help solve.”

            Annika then nodded and replied, “In that case, I have no objections. Lets’ go pay Ryan a visit.”

            The trio left Leo’s house and then made the short trip north to a residential area just adjacent to the small government district that Annika had seen before on the way to the docks. Leo led the way to a dome-shaped house that was around twice the size of his own.

            This house featured light-green and white paint and had a number of windows as well as a double chimney. As the trio neared it, the door opened and out fluttered Ryan who then walked over to the new arrivals. Ryan raised an eyebrow when he saw Annika with Leo and Sapphire. He then politely asked, “What are all of you doing here?”

            Sapphire replied, “Hey Ryan, we had something we wanted to discuss with you. Do you have a few minutes?”

            Ryan nodded and then said, “We can go over to the small park nearby, if you all want? What is this about, I am starting to assume it has to do with the Sneasel girl Leo brought into town.”

            Annika folded her arms and then replied, “The park sounds fine, but I do have a name, its Annika. I am pretty sure you were told that yesterday.”

            Ryan blushed a bit and then, as he began to lead the trio to the park responded, “Sorry, I have been busy with my duties lately. Also, I rarely remember the names of non-citizens unless they are someone quite important.”

            Annika rolled her eyes a bit and then followed the three friends to the park. Sapphire and Leo seemed mostly unfazed by Ryan’s attitude towards Annika, maybe it was because they were used to him?

            When they reached the park, Leo told Ryan, “Annika wants to become a citizen here. She has come up with an idea for a local adventurers’ society to be based in Creekside. We were even thinking of using the abandoned warehouse near the docks. We were wondering if you could tell us more about the local situation and what sorts of things an adventurers’ society could do for the region?”

            Ryan, still seeming suspicious of Annika, responded, “I don’t think I would want to help you with your plans on a more involved level. However, I can give you information on what sorts of problems we have seen in the area recently. For one, the Grey Forest to the immediate south is still unsafe to travel through or obtain resources from, due to dangerous wild Pokémon. Also, we have never entirely eradicated the problem of bandit clans, some of them still pop up from time to time. Also, rumors are starting to creep in about the appearance of members of the cult known as the ‘Reavers of Yveltal’ in the forests farther to the south of here. And, of course, there is the matter of the Legendary Bird Articuno occasionally terrorizing the northern half of the island.”

            Leo nodded and then told Ryan, “Thanks for the information, do you have anything else for us?”

            Ryan responded, “Oh yes…there are some new reports of an unexplored cave that has been discovered in the badlands to the southwest of Creekside Town…. That is the last piece of information I can give you for now. If you three want to form an adventurers’ society, I can help by distributing leaflets and maybe helping you make your case to Patrician Marius, seeing as though I am an employee of his government.”

            Annika, who noticed that Ryan was a bit smug about his being a government employee, added, “Thank you for your help. We will factor this into our case to the Patrician.”

            Ryan nodded and then saluted the group, saying, “I would like to know more about who you are at some point, Annika. Still, I guess that I trust you as long as Leo and Sapphire do.”

            Sapphire then thanked Ryan and he flew off, back to his family’s house. Leo then told Sapphire and Annika, “We should split up, Annika and I will keep doing odd jobs. Sapphire, you should keep up your work at the docks for now. We are still sticking to this plan, right?”

            Annika noticed that Leo still sounded a bit nervous, but Sapphire then said, “Yes, Leo, we are still going ahead with the CAS. You don’t have to be a member you know, even though we would appreciate your help.”

            Leo sighed. Then, he perked up and declared, “If you two are still willing to go ahead, then I will support you, as I promised before.”

            Annika smiled at Leo and Sapphire and then finished, “We have a lot of work to do in the next five days. Lets’ get to it!”

            The three Pokémon then split up. Leo and Annika went off to look for work and Sapphire went home to alert her family about her plans.


	5. Called Before the Patrician

            In the five days following Annika, Leo and Sapphire agreeing to found the Creekside Adventurers’ Society, Annika spent most of her time engaged in two main activities.

            The first of those activities was helping Leo on his odd jobs around Creekside Town. Annika mainly worked with Leo so as to make more money for herself, much of which she was planning on spending to buy equipment, supplies, maps, etc. for the CAS. Leo did insist that Annika spend a reasonably small percentage of her money to help buy food for the house where she was a guest. Annika agreed to pitch in a small amount of her money, in order to not offend her host and be a gracious and grateful house guest.

            Annika also made sure to get her bearings in Creekside Town and memorize landmarks so that she would not get lost in the future. This also served the purpose of allowing her to honestly tell the Patrician that she had been familiarizing herself with his settlement with the intention of making it her permanent home.

            Annika had also been getting more and more used to her new body as she had spent more time in Creekside Town. She also no longer found it at all odd to hear local Pokémon talking to each other. Annika had begun to focus her mind away from her past life and commit herself to focusing on the life ahead of her. From what Annika knew, the life she planned for herself would be in jeopardy if Patrician Marius rejected her appeal to be made a citizen of Creekside Town.

            Annika woke up around a week from her having arrived in Creekside and walked in to the main room a Leo’s house, after stretching briefly. In the main room, Annika saw Leo and Sapphire waiting for her.

            Leo told Annika, “We have breakfast all ready for you. Ryan has warned us that some officers of the Creekside Town Watch will be here in the late morning today. Their orders are to bring you to the Patrician’s meeting tent, where Marius will judge your worthiness to become a permanent resident of our community.”

            Sapphire then added, “The two of us will try to help you as best as we can. However, Ryan has informed us that potential new citizens have to face the Patrician by themselves, or in a group of newcomers. The two of us were born here, so we never had to face the judgement of the Patrician.”

            Annika sighed a bit upon hearing that she would have to talk with Patrician Marius by herself. She then picked herself up a bit and replied, “I will do my best to sell the idea of the CAS to him by myself. I will tell him that we have three members as of now and are open to recruiting more if possible. I think that I am as ready as I will ever be. Our idea has a name, a mission statement and a possible headquarters location. We just need to hope that this Marius likes the idea enough to let me stay in town.”

            Leo nodded and then told Annika, “If you are rejected for citizenship, then we could help you find another somewhat nearby settlement to live in. Not every town on this island has as strict of an entry policy as ours does.”

            Sapphire gave Leo a light playful punch with one of her frontal flippers and then told Annika, “I think you will do fine with Marius. Think positively and focus on explaining to him the potential value the Creekside Adventurers’ Society could bring. Good luck.”

            Leo rubbed his shoulder as best he could and then added, “Yes, good luck to you, Annika. Why don’t you eat, so that you have eaten before the watch officers arrive?”

            Annika smiled at Leo and Sapphire and then sat down to eat breakfast with the two of them.

            Annika, Leo and Sapphire spent the next few hours discussing how Annika could pitch her idea to the Patrician and what sorts of missions they would want to start out with. Then, as lunchtime approached, the trio heard a knock at the door.

            As Sapphire and Annika watched, Leo walked up to the door and opened it. Annika walked towards the door and Leo got out of the way to reveal a trio of arachnid creatures wearing necklaces with badges on them. Annika recognized the shield-shaped badges as the symbol of the Creekside Watch. The Scout’s badge symbol was shaped like an outstretched pair of wings, differentiating it from the watch badge design.

            Leo beckoned Annika towards the door as Sapphire watched. Annika walked up to the trio of arachnids, which she realized consisted of an Ariados leading a pair of Spinarak. The Ariados told Annika, “My name is Sergeant Jeremy of the Creekside Watch. I am here with my subordinates to bring you to Watch Captain Samson, who will present you to the Patrician.”

            Annika nodded and then confidently said, “I will follow you three to your captain. Sapphire, Leo, thanks for everything. I will see you once my meeting with your town’s leader is over.”

            Leo and Sapphire both nodded back at Annika and then wished her good luck. Annika then followed Jeremy and his two officers through town to the government district.

Once they arrived at the entrance to the government district, Annika saw a single Forretress floating in front of the main gate. The Forretress told the arachnid trio, “Jeremy, good work. You and your officers may leave us. I will make sure that this young lady reaches Marius for her meeting with him.”

Jeremy and his officers nodded. They then headed out on a patrol after all saying, in unison, “Yes sir, Captain!”

            Samson then turned to Annika and asked her, “Are you ready to meet with Patrician Marius?”

            Annika nodded yes to Samson and then confidently told him, “Yes sir. I am ready to go when you are.”

            Samson then chuckled and responded, “Very well, to Marius we go.”

            Annika followed Samson past a building that appeared to be the Scouts’ headquarters and another that appeared the be the Town Watch’s headquarters. They then came to an orange tent with a number of patterns in its fabric, which was located nearby a larger stone building that Annika assumed was the real seat of the local government. Samson told Annika, “Enter the tent through the front flap. Marius awaits you there.”

            Annika nodded, saluted Samson and then entered the meeting tent. Once inside she saw a number of expensive looking items including what appeared to be a primitive clock, a few statues, including a bronze statue she believed was of Suicune and other valuable looking art objects scattered around the edges of the tent. A male Poliwrath got up from an elaborately-carved wooden chair and walked up to Annika. He was wearing a garment that looked like a blue toga with a golden clasp over one of his shoulders that was designed to hold the garment on its wearer’s body.

            The Poliwrath seemed to be sizing Annika up. He then politely asked her, in a somewhat deep voice, “Please state your name.”

            Annika replied, “My name is Annika, Patrician.”

            Marius nodded at Annika and then asked her, “So, Annika, what do you have to offer Creekside? Do you have a job lined up in our town?”

            Annika raised a claw and replied, “I actually have an idea for a somewhat unorthodox business venture of sorts to offer your community.”

            Marius’s eyes seemed to focus in on Annika and he asked her, “Alright, you have me somewhat intrigued. What kind of business do you plan on setting up in this town?”

            Annika smiled at Marius and then began, “My plan is to create an organization which will be known as the Creekside Adventurers’ Society, or CAS for short. The CAS will be open to take on assignments to rescue lost or trapped Pokémon, help deal with bandits, explore unexplored areas, escort merchants etc. in the area surrounding Creekside Town. We should be able to serve the region and the community in a number of ways that the local Scouts and Watch may not find in their jurisdictions or have the resources to on a consistent basis.”

            Marius did not seem to take on any particular expression after Annika finished her initial pitch. He then asked her, “Your idea sounds potentially useful. I do have a couple of questions, however. For one, how many Pokémon, other than yourself, have signed on to join this organization if it is authorized?”

            Annika quickly answered, “We have two pledged members other than myself as of now. If you will authorize my citizenship and the creation of the CAS, then we will certainly be open to any possible new recruits who are willing to pull their weight, if you know what I mean.”

            Marius nodded again, he then asked Annika, “What about funding for your new society? Who do you expect to foot the bill for building and maintaining it? You did call it a business venture.”

            Annika quickly answered, ready again, “The society will charge its clients for its services. We plan to produce and distribute advertisement leaflets around town. The main cases in which we might ask for little or no pay will be if it is an urgent situation in which someone who cannot afford to pay desperately needs the CAS’s help. Also, we have been saving money for the purchase of some initial supplies, assuming that we get approved.”

            Marius nodded again and then asked Annika, “My final question is where do you plan on putting the base of operations for the CAS? You will need somewhere to operate out of.”

            Annika nodded and then, feeling somewhat smug at how prepared she was, answered, “We have a building in town picked out already. There is an old warehouse building near the docks, but not particularly close, which we plan to convert into our base of operations with your permission.”

            Marius then nodded and spent a couple of moments seeming to think over what Annika had told him. As Annika was nervously thinking, “I hope that he is impressed, or at least willing to let me start my organization. If he rejects my proposal, I will probably have to leave this town.”

            Marius then cleared his throat and told Annika, “I will accept your proposal on two conditions.”

            Annika felt extremely relieved when she heard Marius tell her that he would accept the proposal. Then, she realized that he had placed unstated conditions on the proposal’s acceptance. Annika folded her arms and asked Marius, “What are your conditions, sir?”

            Marius told Annika, “The first condition is that your Creekside Adventuring Society must accept a liaison member chosen by my government. That member will be paid and treated like all other CAS members unless he or she refuses the ‘extra’ pay from participating in your missions. If you refuse to accept a Liaison member, I will still let you found the CAS. However, you will not be given the deed to the warehouse you would like to use as your headquarters. Do you accept my first condition?”

            Annika nodded yes and then replied, “I do accept that condition. Having more members sounds like a good idea, no matter who they are. What is your second condition?”

            Marius looked down at Annika and informed her, “My second and final condition is that your society will be granted the warehouse deed for a two-month trial period, at first. If, once your two months are up, my government decides that you have earned the building permanently, you will be given the building’s deed. If not, then you will be evicted and will have to find a new headquarters in you want to continue operating out of this settlement. Do you accept my second condition?”

            Annika nodded back at Marius, realizing that she would have to accept his second condition in order to be given the building she wanted to use for the CAS. She then realized something important and asked Marius, “What of my citizenship here? Will that be given a trial period as well?”

            Marius responded, “The Patrician of the distant past who set up the citizenship laws of this settlement stipulated that once granted, citizenship could only be removed as a punishment for a crime. Therefore, you are hereby granted your citizenship, as long as you accept my second condition.”

            Annika could not stop herself from grinning as she reached out a claw to shake Marius’s hand and said, “I see that I have no choice but to accept your second condition then, sir.”

            Marius seemed to become less officious as he shook Annika’s claw. He then said, “Welcome to Creekside Town. I will confer with Watch Captain Samson and Wing-Commander Serena of the Scouts to see who they want to use as a liaison to your adventurers’ society. Good luck…by the way, I will have the liaison deliver the two-month deed to the old warehouse to your current residence. That building has still been receiving occasional maintenance, so it should be safe to use. Lastly, please tell me who your other two pledged members are.”

            Annika replied, as she let go of Marius’s hand, “Their names are Leo and Sapphire. Thank you for accepting my proposal, sir.”

            Marius nodded and then said, “You may return to them now. Good luck once again. The liaison should arrive at your current residence tomorrow morning.”

            Annika nodded and saluted Marius. She then left to go tell Leo and Sapphire the good news.


	6. The Creekside Adventurers’ Society

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It looks like some tabbing issues, like the ones that plagued my previous story, came up again. Hopefully, this will not be much of a problem going forward. Anyways, thank you all for reading and enjoy the chapter.

            After leaving the Patrician’s meeting tent, Annika, who had gotten a better idea of how to navigate Creekside Town during the previous week, sprinted back to Leo’s house. When she arrived, she had to take a couple of moments to catch her breath. After recovering, she knocked on the front door, since she did not have her own key to the house.

After a brief moment, Leo opened the door. Noticing that Annika was smiling, he said to her, “Hey Annika, come inside. Based on your expression, it looks like things went well. What happened at your meeting?”

As Annika was following Leo into the house, she noticed that Sapphire was also in the room. Annika told her companions, “The Patrician, Marius, accepted my offer and gave me citizenship in this town. However, there were two main conditions on us being allowed to use the building we want to use for the adventurers’ society.”

Sapphire asked Annika, “What were his conditions? I hope that he did not impose anything too extreme on us.”

Annika replied, “He says that in order to receive the deed to the building, we need to accept a liaison from the local government. They have not decided who that liaison will be yet. However, he or she will report to us tomorrow morning with the deed. As for the second condition, Marius is only going to give the CAS the building for two months. After that time has passed, he will confer with his advisors about whether or not we deserve to be given the building permanently.”

Leo responded, “Those seem like reasonable conditions, to be honest. Marius certainly does not want to give away a government-owned building, even one that is not in active use now, without some insurance that the new owners operation will prove useful to the town and the region.”

            Sapphire then chimed in, “As for the first condition, I can see why the Patrician would want to place a liaison in the society. He wants to be able to monitor our activities and have someone loyal to the local government report on our progress.”

            Annika nodded and then added, “I am glad that you two are comfortable with the conditions that I had to accept. I knew that we would be much better off with a building to use, so I felt that I had to accept them both without consulting you two.”

            Sapphire then said, “We should celebrate now. We have gotten over the first hurdle. Annika is a citizen and we have permission to set up our new organization in the place we have chosen. Tomorrow, we will worry about buying supplies and tidying up our new base.”

            Leo nodded and smiled back over at Sapphire, saying, “Whatever you say. Good job, Annika, it seems that you got most of what you wanted out of your meeting with the Patrician.”

            Annika smiled back over at Leo and then told her allies, “With any luck, we will be able to officially open in about another week or less! We will need to get to work, so that we can prove our worth to the local leadership.”

            That evening, Annika, Leo and Sapphire went out to one of the nicer café’s in Creekside town for dinner. They ate well and split the cost between the three of them. The trio had decided to wait until they visited their new base and saw how much they could store there to buy supplies for the CAS. They also knew they would have to create a sign for their base, so that it would be easily spotted by any potential clients.

            After dinner, Sapphire set off from the café to return home. Leo and Annika were walking back home. As they were setting off for Leo’s house, Leo asked Annika, “You are excited, aren’t you? You do know that the jobs we will be taking will be dangerous, right?”

            Annika nodded at Leo and then answered. “Yes, I am excited. I intend to give this project everything I have got. As for the danger aspect of it, my life where I came from was lonely and pointless. Here, I have a fresh start. I have no intention of sitting around and living an average life after being given that fresh start. I want my existence here to mean something positive. If that puts me in danger, then so be it. Better I be in danger then friendless in that orphanage. At least here, I can explore and discover new places, meet new ‘people,’ etc.”

            Leo nodded and then told Annika, “I will follow you, then. Since the adventurers’ society was your idea, you should lead it. As long as my love, Sapphire, is willing to put herself in danger in the name of adventure, I will be there by her side.”

            Annika nodded back at Leo and told him, “You are very devoted to the one you love. I can admire that. Still, thank you for all of your help. I don’t think I would be where I am now without you.”

            Leo smiled back at Annika and then his face took on a more serious look. He then told her, “You do realize that we will need to figure out where you are going to live now. I appreciate your gratitude, but our arrangement was that you would only live with me for a week. Tomorrow, that week will be up.”

            Annika looked slightly taken aback, but then she nodded and replied, “I will see if I can find a place to sleep in the new building. If that fails, I will get and inn room for at least a few days. I can buy your extra bed off of you, if you are comfortable with that.”

            Leo nodded and then said, “I can probably sell it to you for a pretty low price. If you cannot sleep in the new building or an inn room nearby, I could probably rent out my room to you for a fee. You have to understand that it is mainly meal expenses I am concerned about with regard to you staying with me. Also, if Sapphire were to ever move in with me, you would certainly have to move out then.”

            Annika chuckled a bit at Leo’s wishful thinking and then told him, “Maybe she will come around eventually? I will say that I would not mind renting out my room from you at least until we have finished renovating our new base of operations.”

            Leo nodded and then shook Annika’s claw, saying, “It’s a new deal, I won’t charge you too much for one week more in my ‘guest room.’ Anyway, let’s get back home and get a good night’s sleep. You have earned it.”

            Annika and Leo walked back home under the evening sky. Annika returned to her bed in Leo’s “guest room” and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

            The next morning, Annika woke up a bit later than usual and then drowsily walked into the main room of Leo’s house. She found Leo and Sapphire waiting for her there.

            Sapphire told Annika, “I was just telling Leo how my family reacted to the recent news that I would be leaving my dock job and joining the CAS. They were mostly concerned about my safety. I told them that this was what I truly wanted to do and that was that. I have already given my resignation to Dock Manger Alexander.”

            Leo then added, “We are waiting for the liaison that our local government has promised to send us to arrive. We cannot check out our planned base of operations until they show up, since they will have the two-month deed with them. As soon as they get here, we will head on out.”

            Annika nodded and then ate a quick brunch. Not long after Annika had finished eating, there was a knock at the door. Since it was his house, Leo walked up to open it. Annika could see that Ryan was standing in the doorway. Leo asked his old friend, “Hey Ryan, what are you doing here?”

            Ryan produced a piece of paper and handed it to Leo as Annika and Sapphire moved closer to the doorway. He then told the trio, “I have been given orders from Wing-Commander Serena on behalf of Patrician Marius to assist your adventurers’ society. I was apparently chosen because I know two of you pretty well already.” Ryan then paused for a moment and then somewhat smugly added, “I was also chosen because the higher-ups seem to have an appreciation for my loyalty to Creekside.”

            Leo smiled back at Ryan as he let his friend flutter inside. He then responded, “I guess you did get ‘sucked in’ to our project, Ryan. I hope you don’t feel bitter about that?”

            Ryan laughed a bit and then told Leo, “Not really, I never feel bitter about doing my duty. Also, getting chosen for a special assignment means that I must be on the Wing-Commander’s good side. Finally, this way I will probably see more action than just patrolling the prairies around our town.”

            Annika walked up to Ryan and shook one of his wings with her claw, saying, “Welcome aboard. I assume that the piece of paper you have here is the deed to the warehouse.”

            Ryan nodded at Annika and then told her, “Yes ma’am, it is good for two months, starting today. Congratulations on being granted citizenship, Annika.”

            Annika chuckled and then replied, “It looks like you remembered my name this time. No time to waste, we should head off to the warehouse now.”

            Ryan handed Annika the deed and then the four Pokémon set off for the northern edge of town.

            When the CAS members reached their destination, they found that the building was not like Annika had pictured it. It was almost circular and made mostly of greyish stone with some tall, thin supporting columns in the front and on the sides. The building was quite tall, at least compared to Leo’s house. The wooden front door had been left open for the CAS members to enter.

            As the four Pokémon were looking their new base over, Annika, sounding quite relieved, said, “It thankfully does not appear to be in shambles. Maybe it is the stone construction?”

            Ryan quickly responded, “The Dock Manager has been making sure to maintain this warehouse, in case it is needed in the future. This is our tax money at work. Anyway, they left the door open for us, let’s go inside.”

            Annika nodded and then led the way into the building. Upon entering the stone structure, Annika discovered that there was wooden interior paneling on the walls and floor of the building and a series of small skylights built into the ceiling. Ryan added, “They told me that those skylights are coverable, for both security and weather protection reasons, via lockable wooden covers that flying or climbing Pokémon can reach. There should be ladders in here, as well.”

            Annika nodded, making a mental note to remember that. Then, the four Pokémon explored the small building a bit and found a smaller back door, and two side rooms. As the de-facto leader of the CAS. Annika decided that the side room on the north side of the building would eventually become her bedroom and personal quarters. The southern side room, which was larger, would be used as supply storage for the CAS. Annika also decided that they would buy a front desk and chairs/stools to place in the central room, as well as a couple of maps to hang on the walls.

The old warehouse also still had a few old, and empty, wooden supply crates. The four Pokémon moved all of the crates into the newly-designated storage room. Then, they all set out into town to buy travel rations, chairs, maps, a desk and other assorted supplies to bring back to their new base.

            The four Pokémon, using money they had all earned through previous work, managed to acquire some initial travel supplies, a large map of the island and a more detailed map of the region near the main river, two wooden stools for visitors to sit on, one chair to go behind the desk and one small wooden desk. Leo seemed to have been the most concerned about how much money he was spending on helping to set up the CAS. The others did not mind spending their money as much, especially Annika.

            After spending most of the afternoon putting up the maps, placing the furniture and organizing and putting away their supplies in the storage room, Annika told the others that she had an idea and would be back before nightfall. She told the other members to finish their set up and then wait for her to return.

            When Annika returned, her allies had already gone out for dinner and returned to the base. It was getting dark outside. When Leo saw Annika, he asked her, “Where have you been? We were getting worried?... What are you carrying?”

            Annika was, in fact, carrying what looked to be a large, somewhat jagged, sort of rectangular, piece of tree bark. Annika laid the bark on the ground outside up and then beckoned her allies over. Leo created a small flare from his mouth to illuminate the area. Annika’s allies then discovered that she had used her claws to carve the words “Creekside Adventurers’ Society” into the bark in a legible way.

            Annika then remarked to her allies, “I think that it could maybe use some paint. I thought that we could get a free sign and that my claws could be used for artistic purposes. The way I see it, they should not only be useful for violence and mundane tasks.”

            Sapphire then added, “I like the sort of rugged feel it has. I think we can make this our sign.”

            Leo nodded and pointed out, “Since Annika was able to get us this for no monetary cost, I agree. We have spent enough money today.”

            Ryan winked at Leo and then finished, “You always were a Poké pincher, Leo. Anyway, I am fine with it. Let’s hang it up and then go home.”

            The rest of the group agreed with Ryan, who flew the sign up in his talons and was able to place it securely above the doorway. After the sign was hung, the group made sure to lock up their newly furnished base. Annika then followed Leo back home. Sapphire and Ryan also returned to their respective homes. Before splitting up, the four Pokémon had agreed to meet back up at the new base the next day late in the morning.


	7. The First Mission

            For the next few days after receiving the temporary deed to the former warehouse near the Creekside Town docks, Annika, Leo, Sapphire and Ryan finished setting up their new base. They also managed to mass produce a number of leaflets advertising their new organization and post them around town.

            Leo and Annika also discussed when she was going to move out of his house. Sapphire was still unaware of Annika’s sexuality and former humanity, as was Ryan. Leo did not want Sapphire to have even the slightest inclination he had a romantic interest in anyone but her, so he did not want to keep Annika in his house permanently.

            Annika agreed that she would move into the side room of the new CAS base once they officially opened for business. She would also pay Leo a small rent fee for the days past the first week when she had lived with him.

            The afternoon before the CAS was to officially begin taking clients, Leo and Annika carried her bed and money purse across town. They then unlocked the front door to their building and got Annika settled in to her new bedroom. Annika was thankful that her new room was larger and better lit than her small guest room in Leo’s house. Annika payed Leo her rent fee and then they went out to buy some candles and a couple days-worth of food supplies for Annika’s personal use.

            Upon returning and arranging their new purchases, Leo was about to leave when Annika embraced him, saying, “Thanks for everything. I expect to see you here with Sapphire and Ryan tomorrow morning.”

            As Annika let go of him, Leo blushed slightly, then he turned around and told Annika, “You were a good house guest. You were very helpful to me in a number of ways. I just hope that your grand idea does not get any of us killed.”

            Annika nodded and then replied, “You were a wonderful host. I still do not know where I would be now without you. Good night.”

            Leo then left, closing the door behind him. Annika felt both proud of herself and lonely as she checked over the building one last time in order to make sure that it would be ready for any potential clients who would hopefully arrive the next day.

            After turning a smaller carved bark sign to the “closed” position just outside the front door, Annika went to bed. She fell asleep hoping that the next day, someone would come and offer the CAS a job.

            When Annika woke up, she wondered how long she had slept for. It was certainly light outside, which she could confirm from looking out of a window. Annika walked out of her room and up to the front door to unlock it. She was planning on waiting for her comrades to arrive before declaring the CAS open for business. When Annika neared the front door, she heard an unfamiliar female voice saying, “I hear your footsteps, please open the door.”

            Annika walked briskly up to the door and unlocked it, wondering who the voice belonged to. She then carefully creaked the door open and took a peek outside.

            Standing just outside the front door was a Togetic who wore a panicked expression on her face. Annika asked, as politely as she could while still a bit sleepy, “Can I help you? We won’t be open until a bit later today. If you have something for us, we would love the business…”

            The Togetic interjected, “Please miss, there is no time to waste! Someone very close to me is in need of help! Please let me speak with the leader of your organization.”

            Annika shook her head rapidly to help wake herself up and then told the Togetic, “I am the one in charge here. You can call me Annika. If this is really urgent, then I guess I should let you inside. Come with me to the front desk.”

            The Togetic nodded as Annika opened the door for her. She then followed Annika to the front desk. Annika sat down behind the desk and then yawned. She then asked the clearly nervous Togetic, “What has gotten you so worked up?”

            The Togetic replied, “My name is Anita. Very recently, I got into a fight with my young Togepi daughter, Linda. I sent her to her room and when I checked in on her, she was gone. All that was left of her was a note, which said that she was running away to find a more exciting life away from my rules. She must have been able to dodge the Scout’s patrols, because by the time she was sighted she was entering the Gray Forests to the south of here. She is outside of the local authorities’ direct jurisdiction now. I will pay you whatever you want if you will go to the Gray forests and try to find her. She could have been attacked by voracious wild Pokémon by now!”

            Anita seemed to be barely in control of herself as Annika replied, “It seems like your daughter did not realize how lucky she was to have parents in the first place. Regardless, as soon as my comrades arrive, we will hopefully set out to try and locate Linda. We will deal with our payment if we can return her safely to you.”

            Anita nodded and then asked Annika, “Were you an orphan? Regardless, thank you for being willing to help. Just please leave as soon as you possibly can?”

            Annika nodded and then replied, “I was and I still am. Whoever my parents were, they did not want me. We can only hope that Linda is now realizing her mistake. We will do my best to find her, though.”

            Annika did her best to console Anita while she waited for her allies to arrive at the base. Ryan flew in first and then Leo arrived along with Sapphire.

            Annika and Anita explained the situation to the other three CAS members. Leo said, “We clearly need to retrieve this kid as fast as possible. We can only hope she did not go to deep into the Gray Forests. She might be able to stay safe if she sticks to the outskirts of the woods.”

            Sapphire then added, “We will gather some supplies in our packs and then set out as soon as we can we will do everything we can to get her back for you, Anita.”

            Ryan then finished, “I can take to the skies ahead of you all in order to look for her. At least until we reach the forests. Then, it will be hard for me to fly too high.”

            Annika then told Anita, “It seems that we all are in agreement. We will accept you as our first client and set off immediately to go find Linda.”

            Anita nodded and then tearfully told the four assembled Pokémon, “Thank you all. I will give you my address. If you find Linda, then please bring her back home as soon as possible!”

            Annika nodded as Anita wrote down her address for the CAS members. The rest of the group then went off to begin packing their supplies for the trip to come. As soon as Anita left, seeming only somewhat relieved, Ryan told Annika, “Thankfully the woods are not a long walk away from here. Maybe only a couple of hours. Once we enter the Gray Forests, we should look for any tracks we can find in order to help us find this kid.”

            Annika nodded at Ryan and then the four Pokémon concentrated on loading up their packs for their first mission together.

            It was not long until the four members of the CAS were on their way out of Creekside Town. Ryan was flying above the other three, Annika was in the lead on the ground, Leo was in the middle and Sapphire, as the slowest on land, brought up the rear of the group.

            When the four Pokémon reached the place where the road forked and one path entered the gloomy looking woods Annika had been told were the Gray Forests, Ryan landed. He then told the others, “From what I know, I have been in combat the most of anyone else here. Of course, I know next to nothing about our leader, Annika. Regardless, if we are engaged, presumably by wild Pokémon. I will fly up and try to blast them from a distance. The rest of you should hope that I distract them enough for you to move in and attack the enemy force.”

            Leo then pointed to a muddy patch of dirt near the entrance to the woods and said, “I see some tracks that look like they could be from Togepi feet. We might as well follow them? I will lead the way using a small flare to light the way. I have heard it gets dark under the canopy of trees in this forest.”

            Sapphire then told Leo, “You have gotten some action while doing odd jobs before, you should be more ready to fight then I am. I will cover you if we are attacked.”

            Leo nodded and then, with Ryan, Annika and Sapphire behind him, entered the Gray Forests.

            The CAS members found that the tracks seemed relatively fresh. However, they soon realized that they made no effort to stay to the forest’s outskirts. In fact, the tracks seemed to be making a beeline for the center of the forest.

            Sapphire wondered aloud, “Was Linda trying to discourage anyone who would want to follow her?”

            As the group continued to follow the tracks, Ryan added, “The problem is that she has placed herself in greater danger of being prey for the local wild Pokémon. I hope that she has stuck to the shadows, or found a place to hide where wild Pokémon will have trouble getting to her.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “If we find her, then we will deliver her back to her family. Even if we have to forcefully drag her back to them.”

            Sapphire then asked Annika, “You seem somewhat frustrated with the one we are here to try and save. Why is that?”

            Annika replied to Sapphire, “I never had a family to call my own. I was abandoned from birth and never knew my parents. I was never adopted either. All I will say for now is that I had had no friends for a long time before I met Leo and then the rest of you.”

            Ryan then chimed in, as they continued to venture deeper into the woods, “I am impressed that someone with as unpleasant an upbringing as yours still wants to help others, Annika. Now, we should all keep our eyes open for wild Pokémon. I know from personal experience that, while some of them make their presence known before attacking and some do not want to fight, a few hostile wild Pokémon will try and sneak up on intruders in their claimed territory, or on potential prey.”

            Leo then briefly mentioned, “I wonder if any potential clients are waiting for us at our base. We should honestly hire a secretary of sorts. Especially if our services do end up becoming in high demand.”

            As they saw small numbers of wild Pokémon, most going about their own business, in the trees and bushes around them, Annika replied, “That does sound like a good idea. However, I would think that we need to prove that we are effective in order to attract more clients. So, we should focus on our current mission now.”

            Leo nodded and then got back to lighting the way.

            The four Pokémon continued following the tracks, until they found them turning around a large tree. Sapphire said, “Linda does not seem to have rested. She must have walked all night, or at least for most of the night.”

            Annika replied, “We will keep following her tracks until we find her. If she managed to escape the forest, we will keep tracking her then. We should just hope that she is in one piece.”

            As Annika was finishing and the group was about to maneuver around the large tree. A trio of Rattata emerged from a small den carved into the bottom of the tree to one side.

            Sapphire exclaimed, “These three do look hostile!”

            Ryan launched himself into the air and shouted, “We will take them down as fast as we can! We need to reach Linda!”

            Annika instinctively bared her claws and thought, “Here we go, my first time in combat!”

            Two of the Rattata lunged towards the group, while the third stayed back to guard the entrance to their den.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey readers, I have two things to tell you about today. For one, I am still hoping to move this story up back up to two postings a week soon. However, I still have no confirmed date for that. Also, work has begun on the rough draft for a sequel to this story. I will continue to update you all on that story's progress from time to time. Thank you all for reading, of course.


	8. The Gray Forests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It looks like my tabbing issues seem to be back for now. Anyway, work on this story's sequel is still continuing. However, I do not know if it will begin posting right after this story is fully posted, or sometime later on. Thanks for reading.

            Annika, Leo, Sapphire and Ryan had made it into the Gray Forests, following the tracks they believed had been left by the Togepi Linda, whom they were to return to her mother. As they had been about to move around a large tree, they had been confronted by a trio of Rattata. Two of the Rattata had advanced on the CAS members, while the third had stayed back to guard their den.

            Leo and Sapphire nodded to each other and each projected a pulse of energy from their mouths. The combination of fire and water slammed into one of the Rattata, downing her as she leapt at the group.

            Ryan launched himself into the air and blasted the Rattata guarding the den with a cluster of small spheres of green energy, the Rattata was only able to avoid some of the shots, and remained conscious after being struck multiple times.

            Annika saw the other Rattata charging right for her, she immediately threw herself to the ground in order to avoid being struck by the enemy. As her foe wheeled around, Annika took a quick but deep breath and rushed her enemy with her claws bared.

            As Leo and Sapphire advanced on the Rattata guarding the den, Annika closed with her target, dodging his teeth as they snapped at her. She then buried her claws in her foe’s side, causing him to release an animalistic cry of pain.

            Annika’s foe then stepped back and then sprang forward, knocking her to the ground. With her foe standing over her, Annika swung her claws madly, trying to injure him. Her foe took a claw to the side again and then Annika evaded a bite aimed at her head.

            As the Rattata pinning Annika’s lower body reared up for another strike, Ryan came in from the air and, hitting beak-first, dislodged the foe from her. Annika breathed heavily and then stood up, seeing that Ryan had defeated her enemy. She then saw that Leo had blinded the final Rattata with a cloud of smoke, Sapphire then beat that enemy down into the ground.

            As the team regrouped, Ryan said, “That is that, now let’s keep moving…”

            A loud shrieking sound could be heard and all four CAS members turned toward the den to see a Raticate rearing out of the den and bring his teeth down on Sapphire with a powerful chomp.

Sapphire screeched in pain. Then, the Raticate pulled her into the air and shook his jaws. Ryan blasted the large rodent with another series of small pulses, while a clearly enraged Leo breathed smoke into the enemy’s eyes with the hope of making him drop Sapphire.

The Raticate did not seem that affected by Leo’s smoke and continued biting into Sapphire, who managed to clip him with a blast of high-pressure water.

Annika then, acting on her newly-acquired instincts, stuck out her tongue at the Raticate and tried to gain his attention. The Raticate glared at Annika and then launched Sapphire into a nearby tree. He then rushed Annika.

As Leo ran to Sapphire, Ryan took off and kept firing blasts into the Raticate. Annika barely dodged a huge chomp from her foe and then swung a claw into his face. The Raticate screeched and then knocked Annika back with a full-body physical strike.

As Ryan kept up his attacks, the Raticate leered over the wounded Annika. Then, Leo leaped on top of the foe, surprising him. Leo shouted, “You do NOT hurt my love!” Leo then breathed a blast of fire into the top of his enemy’s head, finally downing him.

As Ryan landed, Annika, breathing heavily said, “I hope that that was the last of them. Is Sapphire ok?”

Leo, Ryan and Annika, looked over to where Sapphire had stood herself up and was slowly moving towards them. She said, “Thanks for having my back, guys. We have got to press on, I insist. We have got to stick together! I may be wounded, but I don’t want to slow the mission down.”

Annika nodded and then Ryan said, “She is right. We should keep following the tracks. We will find Linda and then make a beeline out of this place.”

Leo looked a bit worried and then insisted, “Annika, Ryan, you two take the lead. I will stay with Sapphire and make sure that she does not fall too far behind.”

            Sapphire sighed a bit and then Annika said, “That sounds acceptable. Let’s get moving now!”

            The group of four Pokémon advanced around the tree and then kept following Linda’s tracks. Once they reached a certain point where the trees’ branches got even thicker and the trees grew more numerous. They heard some squirming noises coming from a series of tree branches above and to the front of them.

            Annika and her allies looked up and saw four Weedle taking up their positions in the tree branches. Leo shouted, as the Weedle aimed their stingers at the group, “Take cover!”

            The Weedle began firing a barrage of poisoned barbs at the group. Ryan flew into the air and shouted down, “I will try to draw their fire. Take them out as best as you can!”

Leo and Sapphire hid behind a downed tree and began firing energy blasts at their somewhat distant enemies. Annika, realizing she had no way to attack at a distance, began looking for things to throw at the Weedle. She also saw that Ryan’s leafy pulses seemed to be having very little effect on the new batch of enemies.

            Annika found a small rock, she picked it up and then took aim at a Weedle. She then saw Sapphire snipe her target with a water blast. As her foe was recoiling from Sapphire’s hit, Annika lobbed her rock and downed the Weedle.

            Leo then blasted a second Weedle off of his perch using a targeted beam of fire.

Ryan then dive-bombed another Weedle, off of his sniping position. Leo took a barb from the final Weedle, but remained standing.

Annika threw a long, pointed stick, which she had just picked up, and severely wounded the last foe. The final conscious Weedle then fired a barb at Sapphire, who ducked behind her cover and evaded the shot.

Ryan then tried to draw the last foe’s fire as Annika had an idea, she used her claws to scale a tree and run across the branches to where the Weedle was evading Leo and Sapphire’s ranged attacks. Then, Annika lunged at the surprised Weedle and sliced into him with her claws, bringing him down for the count.

            As the team regrouped past the downed log, Leo rubbed his wounded shoulder and said, “I hope that we are getting close to Linda.”

            Annika mentioned, as they kept following the tracks, which seemed to indicate running at this point, “We are gaining some valuable combat experience out here. I will admit that we should not stay in this forest for any longer than we need to, though.

            Annika and her teammates did not have to walk that much farther before they started to hear growling and what sounded like a voice calling out vaguely in the distance. The four Pokémon picked up their pace as they advanced on the source of the increasingly loud noises.

            The CAS members followed the tracks until they eventually found a clearing with a very small cave at the opposite end from where they had entered. A trio of Rockruff were present, facing away from the new arrivals. They seemed to be growling into the cave.

            As Annika and her three allies slowly tried to creep up on the distracted predators from behind, they heard a female voice crying out, “Please, leave me alone… I will leave here if you just stop trying to eat me!”

            Annika thought, as she kept sneaking up of the trio of wild Pokémon, “That voice could be Linda’s. Either way, it clearly belongs to someone in trouble.”

            Leaping into action, Annika came up from behind the center Rockruff and slashed down with one of her claws. She struck her foe, but she seemed to be barely injured at all by the slash.

The three foes all did an about face, to confront their attackers. The one who had been hit slammed into Annika, knocking her back, while the other two rushed at Annika’s comrades.

One of the Rockruff was quickly downed by a combination of energy blasts from Sapphire and Ryan. The final Rockruff then charged into Leo and bit into him hard. Leo cringed from his injuries as Annika turned to face her opponent.

The Rockruff rushed at Annika once more, but she dodged her foe’s sharp teeth and then planted a claw into her back. The claw, once again barely slowed the enemy down. However, Annika received some help as Ryan blasted her enemy with a series of leafy pulses.

Annika then used one of her claws to trip out her foes back legs and then plant her other claw right between the Rockruff’s eyes, finally ending her portion of the fight.

Sapphire, seeing that Leo was being used as a chew toy by the final foe, rushed in and blasted the Rockruff with a beam of high-pressure water. The last Rockruff realized that he was now both severely injured and outnumbered and quickly fled into the trees, dodging ranged attacks from Annika’s companions.

As soon as Leo recovered from the pain of being bitten into, the female voice could be heard again, saying, “Hello?”

Annika walked closer to the small cave and asked, “Are you Linda?”

The voice replied, “That is my name… who are you?”

As her team regrouped, Annika looked into the cave and saw a covering female Togepi, she then looked Linda in the eyes and told her, “My name is Annika. We are from the Creekside Adventurers’ Society. Your mother is very worried about you. We were hired to bring you back home. Please don’t resist us.”

Linda’s eyes seemed to widen as she nodded at Annika and began to climb out of the small cave. She then replied, “I remember reading one of your flyers. My mom really cared enough to send you guys after me, huh? I don’t think you all come cheap?”

As Linda left the cave, Leo told her, “We were so determined to find you before wild Pokémon could make a meal out of you, that we set off immediately after your mother asked for our help. Payment will be negotiated after your return.”

Linda nodded and then said, “I was lucky to get as far as I did while most of the wild Pokémon were asleep, or at least less perceptive due to tiredness. When the sun came up, even though you can barely see it here, that small pack of Rockruff sniffed me out and began to chase me. They managed to corner me in the cave. If you were not so timely, they might have gotten in and eaten me!”

            Sapphire then said, “We can walk and talk. We need to get out of these forests sooner rather than later. Linda, will you come with us willingly?”

            Linda nodded her egg-shaped body yes and then replied, “I was angry at my mother, so I ran away without thinking. I will go back to her now. She really was worried about me, wasn’t she?”

            Ryan nodded yes and then added, “Yes, she was. Now, I will fly as high as I can in here to scout ahead for threats. You all can follow me on the ground. We really should leave this dangerous place as soon as we can.”

            As the five Pokémon were nearing the exit to the Gray Forests, Linda asked Annika, “So, what is it like, being adventurers?”

            Annika laughed a bit and then replied, “This is our first real adventure as a group, actually. We were hired to find you on our first day of being open for business. You have the ‘honor’ of being the first Pokémon we have rescued. Even though we plan to take on other kinds of jobs in the future.”

            Linda nodded and then asked, “If you ever want any more recruits, I would volunteer myself. I don’t want to feel vulnerable like I just was ever again. I want to become like you guys, even if you all are still not super experienced yet.”

            Ryan quickly replied, “You should stay at home for now, Linda. Maybe once you are older, we can accept you as a recruit. You should also not make such a major decision too rashly, anyway.”

            Annika seemed to be in thought, she then told Linda, “I might have an idea. You could both help us and stay out of the field of combat for now. If your mother allows for it, we could have you volunteer at our base of operations to meet with and record the requests of any Pokémon who come to the base while the main force of the CAS is away on a mission.”

            Sapphire then nodded and said, “Until you are ready for real action, and while your parents are still supporting you, you could become an honorary member of the CAS. You could make sure that we don’t completely miss any potential clients.”

            Linda then replied, “It sounds like I would be a secretary for you guys then? Still, it would be good for me to get a job, even if I don’t really get paid for it. We will have to see what my mother says, ultimately.”

            Ryan then told the four Pokémon following him, “We are almost clear of the woods. We should be able to return to town by nightfall easily.”

            Annika nodded and saluted Ryan, as the group began to notice an increasing amount of sunlight creeping into the dark forests.

            It was not long until the five Pokémon burst out of the forest and began walking up the road leading north towards Creekside Town.  

            They managed to reach town before evening fell. Then, Annika told her allies to go and get some rest, while she personally took Linda back home.


	9. The Prelate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers, first off, sorry for any remaining tabbing issues. They thankfully do not seem to be much of an issue with this chapter. More importantly, I just wanted to let you all know that my first story on this website, PMD: in the Wake of Humanity, has reached 500 hits! Anyway, thank you all for reading, again. I am still unsure of if/when this story will switch to twice a week posting, sorry about that.

            Annika, with her travel pack still on, was following Linda back to her home in Creekside Town. She made sure that her charge would not get too far away from her. Annika was determined to complete her first mission, and that required getting Linda safely back home.

            As the two Pokémon were walking through the candle-lit streets of town, Linda asked Annika, “Do you think my parents will be mad at me?”   

            Annika replied, “They probably will be angry with you. However, they will most likely be more relieved that you were brought back alive and in one piece.”

            Linda nodded and then sighed a bit. She then asked, “Did you ever run away from your parents when you were young?”

            Annika replied, pain in her voice, “Linda, I never knew my parents. Whoever they were, they abandoned me at birth. I never even had real friends until I moved to Creekside. This is the first place I ever felt like I belonged to at all. So, please don’t ever think you have it that bad, at least you have a family and they care about you.”

            Linda nodded solemnly back at Annika and then said, “Thank you for rescuing me, anyways. …This is the place, my house.”

            Annika walked Linda up to the door of the medium-sized wooden, thatch-roofed house and then loudly knocked on the door.

            After a moment of waiting, Anita opened the door and saw Annika. She then looked down and saw Linda. Anita almost burst into tears, exclaiming, “Linda, you are alive! You can’t begin to understand how much I was afraid for you.”

            Anita then knelt down and embraced her daughter. Annika simply smiled as she watched the tearful reunion. Linda seemed to be very apologetic towards her mother. After what felt like a few minutes, Anita looked up at Annika and then said, “Thank you so much! I will tell everyone I know about what you all did! Now, stay right there, I will see about payment for your services. You have certainly earned it!”

            Annika smiled and nodded as Anita took Linda into their house. When Anita returned, she handed over a series of four small pouches. Upon examination, each pouch contained a considerable and equal amount of Poké coins. Anita then told Annika, “Please keep one for yourself and give one to each of your comrades. Linda seems to genuinely regret her foolish and life-risking decision, so hopefully I won’t need to hire your society again. Anyways, thank you again and have a nice evening…”

            As Anita was about to close the door, leaving Annika with the money pouches, Annika interjected, “There is one more thing I would like to briefly discuss with you, if you have a moment.”

            Anita nodded and then kept the door open, saying, “Anything for you, my daughter could be dead now if it weren’t for your team.”

            Annika blushed slightly and then said, “On our way back, after retrieving her, Linda expressed interest in working with us. Of course, she is too young to be eligible to become a full member of the CAS, as of now. However, we are in need of an ‘intern’ of sorts. Someone one to act as a, probably lightly paid or unpaid, secretary for our organization. Her main job would be to keep watch over our office and write down the job requests of any potential clients while we are away on missions.”

            Anita seemed to think over Annika’s proposal for a moment, she then replied, “I will have to consult with Linda about this. We will let you know once we reach a decision. I would rather not have her away from home for too long. However, giving her some work experience sounds quite appealing, on the other hand. Anyway, thank you for saving my child, I hope you have a nice evening and you get your allies their well-earned pay tomorrow.”

            Anita and Annika then saluted each other and Anita closed the door. Annika then, walked back over to the CAS base, this time with more spring in her step.

            When Annika made it back to the CAS base, she placed her teammates money pouches nearby the entrance to the storage room and then went to her room to get some sleep. She had noticed that her new body, as well as the bodies of her allies, seemed able to heal minor injuries much faster than a human body ever could.

            The next morning, Annika switched the smaller sign out front to the “open” position. She then waited for her allies to arrive, so that she could give them their pay and discuss their first outing with them.

            Before midday, Leo, Sapphire and Ryan all arrived at the CAS base and received their payment pouches. Ryan, as per the agreement Annika had made with Patrician Marius, was entitled to the same pay as all other CAS members. Annika’s three allies all seemed moderately surprised at how much money they had been given, indicating that it was more than they had expected for their first mission.

            Sapphire mentioned, “From what you told us, Annika, Anita seemed very happy to have Linda back. I can understand why. So, did you ask Anita about the possibility of Linda helping us out at the base?”

            Annika nodded yes and then told her allies, “Anita told me that she would have to discuss the matter with Linda. She said that they would come and find me with their conclusion as soon as they figured it out.”

            Leo nodded and then said, “I am just pleased that we all made it back from that mission alive and without any permanent injuries. I think that we earned our pay. As for Linda, I agree that we could use a secretary, especially if she would not be given a substantial salary.”

            Ryan laughed a bit at Leo and then responded, “Oh Leo, always watching your finances carefully. Anyway, I was informed this morning, after submitting my report to the wing-commander, that our local Prelate, Aurelia, is going to be holding an offering ceremony to Lady Suicune tomorrow evening.”

            Sapphire and Leo both nodded and then Sapphire told Annika, “While it is by no means mandatory, you should come with us. If you are going to live here, you should probably experience some of our local culture.”

            Annika looked uneasy and sighed heavily, she then replied, “Honestly… I have had some bad experiences with religion in my life. Leo may have heard some of it before from me.”

            Ryan raised an eyebrow and then asked Annika, “Was it caused by a cult to Yveltal, Darkrai or another dark Legendary Pokémon? Or was it a different kind of bad experience? I think you should tell us, so that we can help you work through it.”

            Annika took a deep breath and then, after seeing Leo shooting her a nervous look, told Sapphire and Ryan, “I was abandoned by my parents at birth and raised in an orphanage. If that was not bad enough as it was, as I got older I realized that I was only attracted to other girls. While not a problem in of itself, once that became known to the others at the orphanage, I began to be mistreated, ignored and ostracized by the other orphans and by the staff. I was kept far away when prospective foster parents visited, so I was never adopted by a family. The ‘kicker’ here is that the ones who ran the orphanage were a religious order dedicated to Arceus, the creator deity of the world. Because of how they treated me for my difference, I have never forgiven them or religion in general.”

            Leo acted like he had heard most or all of what Annika was telling him before. Annika could tell that he was relieved that she had not revealed her former humanity to the others.

            Sapphire spoke first, saying, “I am sorry that you lived that way, Annika. It must have been awful to have no friends or family at all. Still, I think you should come with us. You should not feel afraid of our small shrine or of all faiths. Those who follow the Lady Suicune believe in healing and the positive power of water. We don’t believe in persecuting those who are different from us without accounting for their actions and behaviors.”

            Ryan then added, “I appreciate that you were willing to share that all with us. You should not have to worry about our distrusting or harassing you on account of your orientation. Still, Sapphire is right that you should come with us to the service. You will be fine.”

            Leo nodded and then said, “We can stay with you for an hour or two today, Annika. Then, we will split up again. Let us know if we hear about Linda or get another possible mission. We will probably need to have more than one success in order to convince the Patrician to let us keep this building permanently.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “I am just relieved that the three of you accept me. I was worried about what would happen if even one of you did not want to work with me because of who I am.”

            The CAS members then went out for lunch together. They used the meal as an opportunity to celebrate the success of their first mission. Then, Annika was left to watch the base. She left briefly to buy a few more supplies and one more chair for the base. That evening, Annika ate a small dinner, which she had brought back from a restaurant, alone and then went to sleep.

            The next morning, Annika changed the sign to the “open” position once again and then did a quick inventory of all the base’s supplies. As she was finishing up, she heard a knock at the base’s door.

            Annika walked over to the door to open it. When she did, she saw that Anita was standing in front of the door, along with Linda. Linda smiled up at Annika as her mother said, “Hello again, Annika. I talked it over with my daughter and we agreed that it would be alright for her to ‘intern,’ as you called it, with your organization. I will be walking Linda to and from her work whenever you need her to be in. You know where we live now, so you can alert us whenever you will be out of town, or need Linda for other reasons. I do insist that Linda not be made a full member of your society until she is older and more able to fend for herself independently. What I mean is, please don’t take her on any missions. Her job should be, as you suggested, working to take down job requests while your team is away on business.”

            Annika smiled and nodded, saying, “Why don’t I give Linda a bit of training today. Her help won’t be needed for a little bit. However, if we get another urgent mission request, we may need her to show up on very short notice.”

            Anita and Linda nodded and then Annika led the two of them inside the building. Annika gave Linda a quick demonstration of the sorts of things she was to do, such as keeping up inventory of the society’s supplies and taking down job requests, as well as simply changing the sign between open and closed at the correct times. After that, Linda and Anita left after promising that Linda would be available to watch the base whenever all of the other CAS members were away. Annika just hoped that there would be more work for her organization in the near future.

            That evening, Annika’s allies returned to the CAS base. Annika told them that the arrangement with Linda had been set up and then all four of them went out to have dinner together. At dinner, Annika was clearly a little bit nervous about having to attend a religious ceremony. Her allies did their best to calm her down about it, pointing out that even if the faith of Suicune did persecute homosexuals, no one there would know that she was one just by looking at her. Annika did her best to take her friends advice to heart and calmed down a bit as they finished up eating.

            After dinner, Annika followed her three comrades to a place on the river that was only a couple of blocks from the new CAS base. Once there, she discovered a small stone roofed shrine with a considerable number of stone backless benches for seating nearby it. Every bench was angled so as to allow seated Pokémon to face the shrine.

            A decent number of Pokémon had already arrived to watch the ceremony. On one of the closer benches, Annika could see Marius, Samson, and a Staraptor who Ryan said was his boss, Wing-Commander Serena. The Barbaracle Dock Manager, Alexander, who had once been Sapphire’s boss was also sitting nearby the other present local officials.

            Annika, Leo, Sapphire and Ryan managed to find an empty bench not far away from the shrine itself. Sapphire informed Annika that she should be quiet during the actual ceremony. Apparently, the rites did not take that long for Prelate Aurelia to perform.

            It was not long until a female Azumaril walked up to the shrine, past the benches. The entire crowd fell silent as she walked past them. Aurelia was wearing a piece of clothing over her shoulders, which draped down over the sides of her stomach. Her Prelate’s “uniform” was mostly white and had a river-like, light-blue pattern going across it. When she reached the shrine, Aurelia spoke briefly, saying, “This evening, we of Creekside Town are gathered here to pay homage to our patron Lady. Suicune, living incarnation of the winds and rivers, spawn of the Rainbow Phoenix Ho-oh, son of the divine one, Arceus we honor you as our protector….”

            As Aurelia continued her sermon, Annika felt a chill go down her spine at the very mention of Arceus. However, she respectfully stayed in her seat and kept listening.

            After finishing her initial speech, Aurelia performed some basic rites and rituals that were intended to show the town’s devotion and gratitude to Suicune. Aurelia then closed the ceremony by asking her audience to engage in brief prayer before leaving. Annika simply took up a praying position, so as not to stand out from the crowd.

After a couple of moments, Aurelia finished, “Thank you all for coming. Have a good night. May the blessings of Suicune and of Arceus be on you all. You are dismissed.”

            The crowd began to slowly disperse and Annika asked her allies, “Do you think that I could ask your Prelate a quick question?”

            Sapphire replied, “As long as it is quick… and not offensive, you should be able to ask her something.”

            Annika nodded and then told her teammates that she would see them the next day. Then, she walked through the departing crowds up to the shrine and found Aurelia cleaning up some of the materials she had used in the ceremony.

            Aurelia turned to Annika and then asked her, “Can I help you? I have not seen you here before?”

            Annika looked somewhat awkward and then told Aurelia, “I am new here. I was granted citizenship less than a month ago.”

            Aurelia nodded and then calmly asked Annika, “What do you need then?”

            Annika asked Aurelia, “I was just wondering, what is it that prompted you to have such faith in this Pokémon named Suicune? Isn’t she just an old legend?”

            Aurelia chuckled and then replied, “No, she is highly elusive, but very real. When I was a little Azurill, I saw her for myself. I can also say that if this region is ever truly threatened, Suicune will make herself known and stand with us. She may not enjoy the company of others in most cases, but I believe that she chose me for this job. That is a major reason why so many Patricians have allowed me to keep holding the office of Prelate. Like the ancient avian Articuno, who so many claimed to have been harassed by recently, Lady Suicune is very real.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “Thank you for your answer. Have a good evening.”

            Annika then left, as she heard Aurelia telling her, “I feel as though you had another question for me. However, you do not want to ask it now. Have a nice evening, as well.”

            Annika blushed as she picked up her pace away from Aurelia. She knew that she had not been brave enough to ask the Prelate about her views on homosexuality.

            Annika returned to the CAS base and went to sleep there, hoping that soon she would see new requests for jobs pop up.


	10. Preparations for the Raid

            The morning after Annika had attended the religious ceremony ministered by Prelate Aurelia, she was in the CAS base waiting for her comrades to come to work. Annika was hoping that her organization would receive more job requests in the days to come, especially seeing as though they would need to impress the local government in order to keep their deed to the old warehouse permanently.

            That morning, Ryan was the first of the three friends to come to work. He flew in through the open skylight and then landed nearby Annika. As Annika turned to face him, Ryan asked her, “So, what did you ask our prelate last night?”

            Annika decided to simply tell Ryan the truth and answered, “I just asked what the basis for her faith in Suicune was. She told me that she had encountered Suicune in person as a child and that she believed that she had been ‘chosen’ for the position of Prelate by Suicune.”

            Ryan nodded and then told Annika, “Yes, Aurelia repeats that belief of hers quite frequently. She thinks that it is why she has held her office for so long. However, she is also good at her job. It is entirely possible that, rather than believing her and not wanting to upset Lady Suicune, the Patricians have simply thought that Aurelia was worthy of her office. At minimum, they probably do not see it as worth the effort to replace her.”

            Annika nodded and then thought for a moment. She then asked Ryan, “I was wondering… you have known both Leo and Sapphire for quite some time. What do you know about their relationship?”

            Ryan chuckled and then told Annika, “I know, as any idiot could tell, that Leo is madly in love with Sapphire. He has wanted to marry her ever since they first met. I even overheard him musing about what they would name their children once! I think he said that he would name their daughter Leona? Anyway, I think I have gossiped enough for now. I will say one more thing, Sapphire told me that she recently told him that she had been aware of his feelings for a long time.”

            Annika nodded and then replied, “I know about that last part. I was present when Sapphire admitted that she was fully aware of Leo’s feelings. He still has not given up on trying to romance her, however.”

            Ryan then laughed uneasily and replied, “I honestly hope that Sapphire never finds a different boyfriend. Leo would probably ‘flip his lid’ if it looked like Sapphire was in love with someone else, or even if there was a rival for her affections who she mostly ignored.”

            Annika and Ryan then heard a knock at the door and Annika said, “That might be them, we should stop talking.”

            Ryan nodded in agreement and Annika ran to get the door.

            When Annika opened the door, she saw that it was indeed Leo and Sapphire. Annika then let her two friends into the building.

            Once everyone was assembled, Leo told the other’s, “It seems as though word of our successful rescue of Linda has spread across town. Some farmers on the eastern outskirts of Creekside had a farmhand come and talk to us about a contract. She said that we were to help drive away some packs of predatory wild Pokémon that were harassing their workers. The Scouts have been able to help a bit, but they would like our extra muscle to help scare some of them away for good.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “Why don’t you all lead the way out there and we will see what we can do about taking on this new job. We will go to Linda’s house on the way out of town and have her go to the base so that it is monned while we are away.”

            Ryan, Sapphire and Leo and nodded and then the group of four Pokémon got packed and then set off.

            The Creekside Adventurers’ Society members spent the next week working security for the local farms. They were all paid handsomely for their work after they spearheaded a series of assaults on the dens where the wild packs had made their lairs and drove the survivors much farther east.

            After that, the CAS Pokémon spent the next few days helping escort some trading vessels coming from the east into the Creekside docks, earning more pay from the merchants they protected on their vessels’ approach into town.

            By the time that the CAS Pokémon’s work had died down a bit, they had used up a bit over three weeks of their two-month trial period. Annika and her allies got some much needed rest and then planned to meet up at their base again a few days after finishing their latest job. Linda had been a good intern, doing her jobs of keeping track of the CAS’s inventory and also writing down job requests and the addresses of the Pokémon who had filed them.

            When Annika, Leo and Sapphire met back up at the CAS headquarters, they still had to wait on Ryan, who had not yet shown up.

            Sapphire, seeing Ryan nowhere, hypothesized, “Maybe he had to file a report? He is supposed to file reports with the Wing-Commander after missions. He might have needed to rest before and is only now finding the time to report to his boss?”

            Annika and Leo nodded, thinking that Sapphire had a decent theory. Annika then added, “Well, as soon as he gets here, we will re-open for business. You two should know that I am very proud of all the missions we have successfully completed recently. Our reputation is growing and, of course, I consider that to be a very good thing.”

            Right after Annika finished her statement, Ryan came fluttering through the skylight. He landed in the middle of the group and said, “Guys! I just spoke with the Wing-Commander! She told me that we have been asked to help with a major operation!”

            Annika looked intrigued and then asked Ryan, “Ok, what is this new mission? It certainly seems like a big deal.”

            Ryan took a deep breath and then responded, “Wing-Commander Serena told me that her main Scout unit is planning on launching an official raid against a bandit encampment that has recently been established to the west of here and just to the south of the river. These criminals have been threatening trading barges with attack unless they are paid a protection fee. Their actions have been deemed enough of a nuisance that Marius has authorized the Scouts to launch a military operation to stop the bandits. The Wing-Commander has asked me to give the CAS an offer to help in the mission in exchange for significant pay from the local government.”

            Annika then smiled and replied, “We cannot turn this mission down. If we help the Scouts on this mission and it is a success, then the local administration will be far less likely to revoke our deed to this building when the time comes.”

            Sapphire then asked Ryan, “So, what is the plan? Also, when do we all leave for this mission?”

            Ryan responded, “We are supposed to leave with the Scouts’ force tomorrow morning. We will meet up with them at the western gate of town. The force will leave as soon as everyone has arrived. As for the plan, Wing-Commander Serena is going to command a force of around twelve Pokémon composed of Scouts, a couple of Town Watch Pokémon and a couple of volunteers to attack the bandit camp head on. While her main unit is on the way, we are to circle around the enemy camp and wait for any bandits fleeing down the river, or its coast. We will engage the bandits and try to knock them out, or force them to surrender, so that they can be taken to Creekside Town’s prison later. One other unit of our allies will cover the land routes near the bandit camp in order to prevent any of the criminals who don’t decide to flee by the river from escaping.”

            Leo waited for Ryan to be finished and then mentioned, “I assume that we, along with the other smaller unit, will be moving out first? We will need to be in position before Serena’s force shows up.”

            Ryan nodded yes and then told his comrades, “Leo is right. We will be moving out in advance of the main force. So, do you all think we should to take this mission?”

            Sapphire replied, “I have always wanted to see more of the river. I say we get packed, have Linda ready to mon the office starting tomorrow and help put a stop to the bandit’s predations.”

            Annika then finished, “That all sounds good to me. We will set off tomorrow, after preparing today.”

            The four CAS members spent the rest of the day getting some supplies packed up for their next mission. Ryan was briefly dispatched to both let the other Scouts know that the CAS accepted their contract and to alert Linda that her services would be required at the CAS base tomorrow morning. Linda had already been entrusted with an extra key to the building, so that no one would have to let her inside when she came in for work.

            After the CAS members had made sure that they had everything they would need packed, Annika closed down for the night as the other three members went off to rest in their respective homes.

            The next morning, Annika was waiting, with her traveling pack on, just outside of the CAS headquarters. It was not long until her three companions arrived and the group set off for the western gate of town.

            Upon their arrival at the western gate of Creekside Town, Annika and her teammates saw between fifteen and twenty assembled Pokémon standing in two groups. A female Staraptor wearing a red sash was looking over the small force. Annika knew that she had to be Serena, Ryan’s commanding officer.

            Once his allies had found a place to stand, Ryan fluttered over to the Staraptor and saluted her with one of his wings, saying, “The Creekside Adventurers’ society reporting for duty, Wing-Commander ma’am.”

            Serena nodded and chuckled, replying, “Very well. Have you explained the plan to the others?”

            Ryan nodded and then told Serena, “Yes ma’am. I have informed my allies of our plan to shut down the bandit encampment. We know that we are to circle around the enemy position and then be ready to stop any foes attempting to escape via the river or the riverbank.”

            Serena nodded again and then produced a thin, somewhat long, canister. She used a wing to hand it to Ryan, saying, “This contains a map of the region with your planned route marked on it. Goode luck out there, soldier.”

            Ryan smiled back over at Serena, and saluted her with a wing again. He then fluttered back to the CAS and quickly explained the function of the map case to them.

            Annika took the map case, seeing as though she was the de-facto leader of the CAS. After placing it in a side pocket of her pack, she stood at the head of her group.

            Serena then addressed her followers, saying, “It appears that everyone we need is now here. Squad A, we will move out last and advance directly on the bandit’s camp. Squad B, your smaller force will move out second and take up the positon indicated on your map to block land-bound fleeing enemies. Squad C, the CAS, you will move out first and circle around the enemy camp until you are on the opposite side of it, as your map indicates. Good luck everyone, and may the blessings of Suicune and Arceus be upon us.”

            Annika briefly rolled her eyes. She then focused herself and told her three teammates. “Ok, ‘Squad C,’ let’s head out now!”

            Ryan took to the air as Annika, Leo and Sapphire began their march out of the town and towards their indicated position. They would have to move quickly, in order to be at their destination tomorrow morning when the main force was to begin their attack on the riverbank bandits’ camp.


	11. The Raid on the Bandit Camp

            Annika was leading her team of CAS members across the grassy open plains to the west of Creekside Town. Leo was walking behind Annika and Sapphire was bringing up the rear of the trio. Ryan was flying somewhat above the others and acting as a lookout for any possible threats. The few wild Pokémon in the area seemed to be mostly minding their own business and were uninterested in attacking the CAS squad, as long as they were not disturbed.

            The four Pokémon managed to make it most of the day without any major incidents. Since they were on open ground, they were able to detect any potentially hostile wild Pokémon and give them a wide berth. Annika was mostly focused on using the few landmarks she could find to interpret the map so that her unit would reach its assigned position on time. She knew that her group would have to make camp and rest the night at some point. She expected that they would all take turns keeping watch once they had set up camp.

            As the sun began to set and the sky began to darken, Ryan shouted down to his allies, “Hey guys, I have spotted a trio of Taillow above us.”

            Sapphire called back up, “Ok? Aren’t they just a flight of wild Pokémon. If they are not attacking us, I assume we won’t have a problem with them?”

            Ryan responded, “I think that these three are looking for something, or someone. They look like a patrol group. Having worked in the Scouts for as long as I have, I know how airborne Pokémon on patrol behave.”

            Annika thought it over as quickly as she could, she then said, “We should try to hide and hope that the shadows can conceal us. If this is a bandit patrol, we don’t want to let them see us, but we also do not want to take them out so that they don’t make it back to their camp. If their patrol does not make it back, the bandits may realize that something is up.”

            Annika, Leo and Sapphire all ducked into the tallest patch of grass that they could find as soon as Annika finished talking. Ryan was about to fly down to join them when the three Taillow began to dive down in his direction.

            Two of the Taillow engaged Ryan, who had clearly been spotted. One of them shrugged off a leafy blast Ryan had fired at him. The two then came in at Ryan and while he evaded the first attack, the uninjured Taillow managed to strike him hard with her beak.

            The third Taillow flew over to the grassy patch where Annika, Leo and Sapphire were hiding. Annika could not help but smile, as she had learned a new combat “trick.” As the third Taillow flew around the thick patch of tall grass, Annika leaped into the air at high speed and grabbed her. The two Pokémon hit the ground, where Leo and Sapphire began to physically attack the injured Taillow. The foe tried to fly away but was prevented from doing so by her attackers.

            Ryan was still doing his best to stay conscious, as he kept dodging his two enemy’s attacks and tried to blast them out of the sky. One of Ryan’s foes, the one who had been more heavily injured, decided to find out what had happened to his companion, who Annika had grabbed without him seeing.

            When he flew over to the grassy patch, Leo and Sapphire stuck their heads out and shot him out of the sky with a combination of fire and water blasts.

            Inside of the grass, the downed Taillow was still struggling against Annika. After taking a beak to the chest, Annika decided to use another new trick of hers. She swung one claw at her foe, who rolled to dodge it. Then, Annika’s second claw, glowing with black energy, came in unerringly from the other side and finally knocked out her enemy.

            As Annika emerged from the grass, she saw the final Taillow trying to flee, since she had lost both of her allies in the struggle. However, Leo, Sapphire, and Ryan cooperated to blast the retreating enemy out of the sky.

            Annika then smiled and said, “We took care of them, didn’t we? What is…”

            Annika had noticed a small pouch that the recently downed Taillow had been wearing. She walked over to the unconscious foe and opened the pouch. It contained one very small letter. Annika then read the letter to her allies aloud, it read, “A reminder of your orders: You three are to patrol the area surrounding our campsite in a circular pattern. If you spot any intruders that do not appear to be wild Pokémon, try to drive them away or defeat them if they are only a small group. Fall back and report to me if they are a large group. You may return to the camp from patrol every three days in order to collect and store your share of any new loot we have taken. Remember that your part in this enterprise is important, as you are our camp’s early warning unit.… -Carla.”

            Leo then said, “It seems like they were bandits after all.”

            Ryan added, “I hope that they were not due to return anytime soon.”

            Annika then finished, “We should tie up the survivors and then hide them in the grass in the hope that they will not be eaten by wild Pokémon. Then, we will move on and find a nice, defensible, spot to camp at.”

            Sapphire, Leo and Ryan all nodded. Then, the CAS Pokémon bound the Taillow who were still breathing and left them in the tall grass. Annika did her best to mark the captive’s approximate position on her map, so that they could be picked up later, after the raid.

            The CAS team then traveled farther to the west before finding a place to camp for the night. As the group ate a quick dinner, Sapphire suggested that it seemed likely to her that the “Carla” who signed the letter was the leader of the bandits, or at least a high-ranking member of their group.

            That evening, Annika took the first watch, her eyes as a Sneasel were considerably better at scanning an area in the dark than her human eyes had been. She could easily see a number of wild Pokémon who would on occasion fly or walk through the area, even in almost total darkness. As Annika stood out in the darkness, she noticed what seemed to be a campfire in the far distance to the north. She could only assume that that had to be the bandits’ camp. Annika knew that her team was not to attack the enemy camp head on. She knew they would take up a position on the river bank and then try to stop any attempts the bandits would make to escape their camp, assuming the main force was successful.

            Annika was eventually relieved of her watch duty by Leo. She was able to find a comparatively comfortable spot to rest her body and fall asleep.

            The next morning, the four CAS Pokémon managed to set off for the southern riverbank. They were making sure to stay clear of the outlaw camp, which Annika had spotted the previous night.

            The CAS team managed to hustle over to the southern riverbank, where they soon found a recently downed tree which had fallen partially over the river, making it somewhat harder to navigate it safely. Annika ordered, “I think we will take cover behind this log and then engage any Pokémon using the river to flee.”

            Ryan then nodded, as they all got into position behind the log and looked over at the, clearly visible, bandit camp. He then said, “I think that my boss’s assault on the enemy camp will begin quite soon. The bandits will presumably be at least somewhat prepared for the attack. I doubt that they were prepared to stay at their camp forever without being challenged. However, Wing-Commander Serena should be able to take a few of them down by herself, and she will have considerable backup.”

            Annika then asked, as she kept her eyes on the enemy camp, “What will become of the bandits that get captured? They are neither citizens of Creekside Town, or outsiders staying there when they committed their crimes. Does the Creekside government have a right to try them for their actions? Not that I want them to keep doing what they are doing. I am just curious.”

            Ryan responded, “Unless it turns out that they were sponsored by another settlement, which I doubt, I believe we have the right to defeat and detain these bandits. If they were sponsored by another settlement, that would be a major problem. Anyway, their actions are affecting the entire region adversely, Creekside most of all, due to its trading port status. If another settlement is able to provide proof that one or more of the criminals are their citizens, then we will extradite them for punishment in their own homes. As for why we have the right to stop these outlaws, no one else will. Also, no one, other than the bandits themselves, will try to stop us anyway.”

            Annika reminded herself that in this world, she had yet to encounter a real nation. Each town seemed to be on its own, even if it had allies among the other settlements.

            At that point, Annika looked up and saw a number of faint-looking dots in the distance. They seemed to be dive-bombing the bandit camp. Various energy attacks could be seen flashing as the battle seemed to be beginning.

            Sapphire mentioned, “I hope that we see at least a little action today. I know that we will be safer if we don’t have to engage any bandits, but I would like to take down a few more of them before this operation is over.”

            The four Pokémon tried to watch the battle as well as they could for the next few minutes, eventually Leo called out, “I see a someone coming this way. I think it is a Lombre. Everyone, get down!”

            The four CAS Pokémon all ducked as the Lombre moved ever closer to their positon. Once the target was close enough, Annika gave the order, “Attack!”

            Ryan, Leo and Sapphire jumped out of cover and then saw a trio of hostile Lotad rise up from the water to help their Lombre leader.

            Sapphire grinned and then seemed to emit a strange cry that generated a cone of energy that somewhat injured all four enemies. Leo and Ryan then combined their ranged attacks to drop one of the Lotad, as Ryan flew out into the battle.

Annika then rushed a Lotad and struck him with one of her claws. The Lotad staggered a bit and then turned around only to try and surprise attack Annika, who seemed just barely injured by the strike.

The other remaining Lotad rushed towards Sapphire and then drained some of her life-force out with a series of small pulses of energy. The Lombre stuck back and fired a targeted series of rapid fire, high pressure water bubbles to strike all four CAS Pokémon. Leo seemed particularly staggered by the bubble attack.

Annika used her feinting trick and channeled dark energy through her claw to strike the Lotad she had been fighting down into the ground.

As Leo and Sapphire teamed up to take on the final Lotad, Ryan dive-bombed the bandit Lombre and struck him with his beak at full speed. The attack knocked the Lombre over.

            Annika rushed over to where Ryan was struggling with the Lombre. She then saw the Lombre knock Ryan off of his body, Ryan seemed somewhat stunned and was cringing. Annika then leaped into the air and slammed into the Lombre, striking with both of her claws and finally knocking the foe out.

            Sapphire then waited for Leo to breath smoke into their foe’s face. She then used a flipper to swat the dazed Lotad into the swampy ground of the river bank.

            Annika then breathed heavily for a moment. She proclaimed soon after, “We have dealt with that batch of enemies. Everyone, back to your positions! We should wait to see if any more foes approach us before linking up with the Wing-Commander.”

            Leo then added, “I assume that Serena’s forces are doing well if some of the bandits were already retreating.”

            After briefly waiting behind the log again, Ryan peeked out and then told his allies, “There is a small raft making its way over here. I see three Pokémon on board it.”

            Annika then ordered, “Let’s all push this log out farther over the river, we can try to make it harder for them to advance and then ambush them.”

            The CAS Pokémon pushed the log out onto the river as the raft neared their positon. The raft began to change course to veer farther into the river, so as to avoid the log.

            Then, Ryan narrowly evaded a pulse of fire launched from the raft. On closer examination, Annika saw that a pair of Squirtle were using oars to row the raft and a Charmeleon was standing at its center. She appeared to be guarding a couple of boxes on the back of the raft.

            One of the Squirtle blasted Leo with a jet of water, knocking him back as his fellow focused on rowing.

            The Charmeleon shouted, “Don’t waste too much time here. We need to focus on escaping this area. Row Faster!”

            The two Squirtle shouted, “Yes, miss Carla!”

            Ryan shouted, “Oh no you don’t!” He then summoned up a series of dagger-sharp leaves and used them to blast one of the Squirtle rowers, who then fell off of the raft and out of the fight.

            The second Squirtle then tried to avoid the log by himself, but the raft collided with it and was stuck.

Sapphire then used her eerie sonic attack to wound the two bandits on the boat. Leo then smiled and used a pulse of fire to ignite the raft.

As the enemy Squirtle tried to put out the fire with his water breath, Annika beaned him with a smooth river rock she had found.

Carla then glared at Annika and told her minion, “Put out the fire! I will deal with this group!” She then jumped off of the raft and onto the log. After balancing herself, she fired a flame pulse directly into Annika who staggered back, shrieking in pain from her burns.

As Annika tried to refocus herself. Leo fired his own pulse of flame into the raft a second time, the enemy Squirtle continued to focus on trying to put out the flames, but then Ryan flew up into the air and used a second torrent of knife-like leaves to take the Squirtle down.

Sapphire then used a blast of water to wound Carla, who still kept her focus on Ryan. The raft fire was now consuming most of the craft. Annika then missed Carla with a second rock, the pain in her body was now too severe to let her aim as accurately as before.

Carla then shot a pulse of fire into Ryan. The flames found their target with enough force to knock him out of the sky.

Leo ran to the downed Ryan as Sapphire blasted Carla back so that she fell into the river.

Carla managed to keep her tail flame above water and then quickly scrambled back onto the log. She then made for the shoreline at full speed.

Then, Annika summoned up all of her courage and rushed onto the log, as the fire began to spread to it. As Carla made for dry land, Annika rushed headlong into the bandit captain and struck her with a full body blow to the chest. Carla, was forced to cling to the log as Sapphire dove into the water.

Leo then looked up from Ryan and, seeing the spreading flames, told Annika, “Get off of there now!” Leo then breathed a cloud of smoke into Carla’s face, dazing her and making it harder for her to hold on.

Annika nodded and then Sapphire came up next to Carla who was still fighting her way through Leo’s fumes. Carla then shouted, “I surrender! You all win!”

Annika then pulled the, still choking Carla up and Sapphire followed her. The three Pokémon then made it back to dry land. The log was then pushed away to burn until the water put it out or it burned itself out.

Sapphire then told Carla, “Hands on your head and get on your knees!”

Carla glared at Sapphire, but she did as she was told Leo then called over, “Luckily for our new prisoner, Ryan is alive. He is not in great shape, though.”

            Sapphire told Leo, “Go and get the Wing-Commander. Annika, stay with me and make sure that our prisoner cannot escape.”

            Leo nodded and then rushed off to the bandit camp to find Serena.

            Sapphire then kept behind Carla as Annika retrieved some rope. She started by “muzzling” their captive by tying some rope around her jaws. Annika then deftly bound Carla’s claws in front of her back after ordering her to fold them in a positon that would make it harder to use her claws to escape her bindings. Annika would have bound her captive’s arms behind her back, but she was worried about Carla using her flaming tail to burn off her ropes. Annika then finished off by trying Carla’s upper arms to her sides with the last of her ropes.

            It was not too long until Leo returned with Serena and a couple of other Scouts. Ryan was still only semi-conscious during that time. Serena surveyed the situation and then declared, “Excellent work capturing the bandit’s leader. Troops, secure the other bandits who are still breathing. Leo here has told me where the members of the bandit patrol you all captured are hidden and I have dispatched a few members of my force to make sure that they are brought in. We will secure miss Carla here and then get Scout Ryan back to Creekside for rest and recovery.

            Serena then went up to the, still glaring, Carla and had Annika remove Carla’s lower arm ropes. She then had Carla hold out her claws, which were then stuck in a small, tight, heavy cloth bag. The bag was then tied tightly to remove the threat of Carla’s claws. Serena’s troops then used a restraint bar to keep Carla’s tail at an even distance from her neck. Finally, Serena had a heavier muzzle secured over Carla’s mouth to make sure that part of her body could not be freed and that she could not breathe fire.

            After Carla was firmly bound, Annika and Leo picked Ryan up and then they all made their way back to the bandit camp, where the other surviving criminals were being rounded up. From there, they returned to Creekside Town.


	12. The Aftermath of the Raid

            The Creekside expeditionary force, including the CAS, returned to town in the late evening. Serena went off to report back to Patrician Marius, the CAS members and the few other volunteers received their pay and the other Scouts escorted their prisoners to the dungeon beneath the Town Watch’s headquarters in the government district. Ryan was taken to the small hospital wing of the Scouts base in order to receive medical attention for the severe injuries he had received from the, now captive, bandit leader, Carla.

            Leo and Sapphire returned to their respective homes that night, after promising to check in on Ryan the following day.

            As for Annika, she returned to the CAS base. When she arrived, she noticed that there was a note from Linda on the desk. Annika glanced at it long enough to see that it was a job request, but she decided against reading it in full, since she was immensely tired. Annika then walked over to her bedroom and plopped herself down on her bed as soon as she reached it. She then quickly fell asleep.

            The next morning, when Annika woke up, she walked into the main room of the CAS base and, after a quick breakfast, decided to read Linda’s note. The note said, “Job Request: A Magmar named Horton, who is staying at one of the local inns, says that he has a job for the CAS. From what he told me, it has something to do with a small, recently discovered, cave not far from here to the southwest. He seems to want someone to explore it. He said that if you are interested, you should go to the Creekside Tavern and ask for Horton at the front desk.”

            Annika decided that she would tell Leo and Sapphire about the job when they showed up. She then changed the sign outside to open, since she was able to take any new job requests that might show up that day.

            Leo and Sapphire arrived a bit later than usual that day. When they showed up, Annika told them about the request that Linda had taken down for them. Leo’s reaction was to say, “It sounds interesting. However, we should wait for Ryan to recover before undertaking any more jobs, unless they are particularly urgent.”

            Sapphire then added, “I agree with Leo on that. We should wait until Ryan has recovered more and then go and try to see this Horton at the tavern inn. The good news is that Ryan has begun to recover from his severe burns already. I still think he will need a few days, though.”

            Annika nodded and then asked, “It would probably better to ask Ryan this. But, since he is not here, what becomes of Pokémon who are imprisoned in this town, anyway?”

            Sapphire replied, “From what I have learned from working at the docks. The Pokémon who are put in the dungeons are rarely given life sentences. However, they are kept in their cells and often restrained in ways that make it difficult for them to free themselves if they would be otherwise able to do so. The dungeon is not that large, but it is divided into a few segments with different types of Pokémon based on species being put into each segment. The guards in each segment are usually veteran watch officers. They are assigned to guard segments where the prisoners will be more vulnerable to their attacks. For example, Carla is probably being guarded by aquatic or earth-based Pokémon guards right now.”

            Leo then chimed in, “Ryan once told me that if any prisoners manage to escape their cells, or leave them without a guard escort, the guards are allowed to use lethal force to stop them from escaping the dungeon. All new prisoners are told that as soon as they arrive. That fact apparently discourages escape attempts, even if the prisoner could probably escape his or her cell and make it into the hallways of the dungeon. Some have suggested allowing the prisoners to work on projects in the town, so that they have some money when they are released. However, the proposal has not yet been accepted due to it posing security risks.”

            Annika then asked, “Do you two know if Pokémon apprehended by the Watch, or the Scouts, get a trial in a court? I would hope that suspected criminals are not just locked away without getting a chance to prove if they are innocent.”

            Sapphire replied, “I know for a fact that any citizens of Creekside Town who are arrested for any crime get a fair trial in a building that stands alongside the watch headquarters. That only does not happen in very rare, extraordinary circumstances. Pokémon who commit a crime in Creekside, but belong to another settlement are extradited to face punishment in their own community. As for ‘stateless’ Pokémon, they are usually punished directly if they committed a crime against Creekside. If there is still heavy doubt that they are the guilty party, they could be given a trial.”

            Annika then asked, “Ok, well we do know that Carla was pretty obviously the leader of those bandits. Anyway, are there any other punishments handed out here other than imprisonment?”

            Leo answered, “From what I know, minor offences normally only lead to the violator being given a fine. Very short prison sentences have also been handed down for some criminals. Executions are very rare, but they are handed out as the punishment for murder. Pretty much no other offense is punished in that way.”

            Annika then admitted, “I am just glad to not ever have been forced into banditry. It seems like those ‘stateless’ outlaws have no real rights, if they are caught at least.”   

            After talking for a bit, Annika, Leo and Sapphire checked over their inventory. No new job requests came in that day.

            Two days after that, no other new requests had yet arrived. Annika had been told that Ryan would be recovered enough to go with his teammates to meet with Horton the next day that morning by Leo and Sapphire.

That evening, the trio of active CAS members had all gone over to Leo’s house for dinner. They had all pitched in to help buy and make the food. When they were all sitting down to eat after preparing their dinners, Annika looked over to Leo and then over at Sapphire and then decided to risk a bit of Leo’s possible ire by asking a question she had wanted to ask for a while. She asked, after the three of them had begun eating, “So, one time when I was talking with Leo, just after we had met, he mentioned a race he called humans. I just wanted to know a bit more about them, since they seem interesting. Could either of you tell me more?”

Leo shot Annika a brief look, as Sapphire replied, “From what I have learned from various traders and travelers at the town docks, humans are intelligent like we are, but very different. Like most Pokémon, they have males and females. However, they have much longer pregnancy periods and age much slower, as well as becoming less physically fit in their old age in many cases.”

Annika then interjected, “What about their culture and behaviors?”

Sapphire thought for a moment and then continued, “Humans live in many different cities, towns and even larger nations. They do not have only one culture. However, I have heard that they are better at using tools than Pokémon. Apparently, they use weapons that they make in order to fight, since they lack the natural combat ability of most Pokémon. They also make manufactured armor in order to protect their bodies in combat, as well as protective clothing for dealing with harsh weather. Also, humans who are civilized have hunted wild Pokémon at times, at least I have heard that. Some of them are more willing to deal and trade with civilized Pokémon than others and a few of them shun Pokémon entirely. This island has never seen human presence, from what I know.”

Leo then added, “I have never heard of a place where humans and Pokémon lived together as equals, or together period. Such a society could be very powerful, with the combat abilities of Pokémon and the creative abilities of humans combined. I wonder if that place exists out there, somewhere?”

Annika nodded and then thanked her comrades for the information. She then got back to eating her meal.

The next day, Ryan returned to the CAS base in the early afternoon. He looked mostly healed and as energetic as ever. After explaining their plan to him, Ryan said, “Why don’t we show up at the tavern early this evening and ask for Horton then. The Tavern has a publically open restaurant on its first floor, so we could have dinner with our potential client and discuss business with him at the same time.”

Annika agreed, saying, “That sounds like a good plan. Why don’t we head over to the Creekside Tavern, as you all call it, later today and hope that Horton will be able to meet with us. If he is busy, we will simply have the front desk leave him a message.”

            Leo and Sapphire both nodded their agreement and then the CAS Pokémon hung out at their base for the afternoon.

            As the four Pokémon were walking over to the tavern, Ryan said, “While I was resting up, I was thinking about something….”

            Sapphire interjected, “What was that?”

            Ryan then continued, “I think that it is pretty likely that our business will be allowed to keep operating out of its current base once our two-month deed is up. I think that once we have secured ownership of the base, we should make a more active effort to find new members for our adventurers’ society. I know that Linda hopes to become an active society member one day, but she is still both inexperienced and unevolved, as of now. If we had even one more member, then the group could still function effectively on missions if one member was temporarily busy, or out of commission from injuries.”

            Leo responded, “That way, if one of us gets injured in action again, we could still go on missions while the injured member recovers. I am sure that if we had more members, we could also have one or more of us begin training Linda, so that she will eventually become a full CAS member. I bet we could find a new secretary or just always have a member on desk duty if we had more Pokémon.”

            Annika nodded as they neared the large, three-story wooden building that housed the Creekside Tavern. She then said, “We should encourage any experienced Pokémon who want to join us in the future for sure. I also do want Linda to eventually become a full member of the CAS as well.”

            At that point, the four Pokémon had reached the front double doors to the tavern. Annika opened the door and then stepped inside, with her three comrades right behind her. They then walked up to the front desk where a Helioptile receptionist stood. She said, “Welcome to the Creekside Tavern. My name is Aubrey. How can I help you?”

            Annika then told Aubrey, “We are looking for a Magmar who calls himself Horton.”

            Aubrey then smiled at Annika and replied, “Oh, you all must be the adventurers’ society Pokémon. I have heard a decent bit about you and your accomplishments in the region. I will have Sam contact Mr. Horton, and have him come down to meet with you.”

            Aubrey called for Sam, who turned out to be a Galvantula bellhop. Sam then crawled upstairs to retrieve Horton. Aubrey then told the CAS members, “Mr. Horton has been wanting to meet with you all for quite a bit. He mentioned it to me soon after checking in, so that I would know what to do if you all showed up.”

            Sam then returned with a male Magmar in tow. Horton smiled as he saw the four CAS Pokémon. He then bowed to them as Sam went back upstairs. Horton then said, “I have been waiting to meet with the four of you for a few days now. I am glad that you all have finally decided to come meet with me. Come, I will get us a table somewhere relatively private and we will talk business.”

            The four CAS Pokémon followed Horton past the front desk, into the restaurant portion of the first floor and over to a table near one of the restaurant’s corners. Once they had all sat down and ordered their meals, Annika asked, “Mr. Horton, it seems as though you have a job for us that involves investigating a cave to the southwest of here. Is that true?”

            Horton smiled and nodded, explaining, “As I told your young secretary, Linda I believe it was, I do indeed want you all to investigate that cave. You see, I represent a private company that sets up mining operations for ores, precious metals and even rarer treasures of the earth. We are prepared to pay your organization handsomely for a full report on the potentially valuable materials that may or may not be in the walls of that cave. I can give you some drawings of what to look for. Once you return with your report and hand it off to me, I can ensure that you are compensated for your work soon after. Also, driving away any wild inhabitants of the cave would be much appreciated. Even though that would not be the main purpose of your mission.”

            Annika thought it over and then asked her comrades, “Does this sound like a good idea to all of you?”

            Leo nodded enthusiastically and said, “Even if it is less heroic than going after outlaws or rescuing lost civilians, it sounds like this job will pay well. I say we take it.”

            Sapphire chimed in, “I will probably be useful against underground Pokémon, so I should go to. We could use some decent pay as well.”

            Ryan then finished, “I have no intention of giving up after my recent injury. I will go on this mission as well.”

            Horton then passed out some pictures of metals and stones to the CAS members. He then said, “Keep these, they will help you identify what we are looking for in that cave.”

            Annika then replied, “It looks like we are taking your job then, we will leave in two days maximum.”

            Horton smiled and then shook the “hands” of all four CAS members, saying, “The Intercontinental Mining Corporation is pleased to do business with you all. I will stay here for now and then send out a message to my superiors telling them of this development. I will also request the payment for each of you.”

            The five Pokémon then ate their meals. after that, Horton went off to begin writing his letter to his IMC bosses. Then the four CAS members went off to get some rest. Annika knew that she would go contact Linda to mon the office the next morning. After that they would pack for the longer trip and then be off.


	13. The Spelunking Expedition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the weird tabbing again. It seems to show up randomly when I copy my chapters from word lately. Anyway, thank you all for reading. I am pleased with how many hits this story has already gotten. I still do not have any major updates on when, if at all, I will change this story's posting schedule to twice a week.

            It was only a couple of days after meeting with Horton when the four CAS Pokémon set off on their newest mission. Having left Linda in charge of their office, they left town via the southern gate, the same gate through which Annika had first entered Creekside Town with Leo. The expedition team had decided that it would be for the best for them to bring some extra supplies with them for their trip, since it would take a couple days to even reach the cave. Upon arriving, they would have to explore the cave and then return to town. They had also brought the pictures that Horton had given them for use in their survey of any easily findable materials that could be embedded in the cave’s walls.

            The first day of travel was relatively uneventful as the CAS members walked southwest towards the area where the cave had been discovered. On the second morning, the CAS team started seeing a number of large trees not far from where they were walking.

            Annika kept her eyes open for wild Pokémon, or any other potential threats, as her group noticed a very large tree standing in their path. Annika diverted the group farther to the south, preparing to walk around the tree. However, as they neared the plant, they saw a number of what appeared to be white and purple cocoons nesting in the branches. As the group was about to circumvent the tree, Leo asked, “Are those Pokémon? They seem to be looking at us right now.”

            Ryan responded, “They appear to be a group of Silcoon and Cascoon. They seem quite vulnerable, since they are visible in their resting places…”

            The whole group then heard a loud rustling noise as what looked to be at least ten Wurmple emerged from the tree and three of them took up places on the side of the it. The rest clambered down the trunk of the tree and then began to advance menacingly towards the team.

            Sapphire shouted, “I think those Wurmple are defending their elders while they are in their cocooned state.” She then let out a powerful sonic cry to blast a few Wurmple back, injuring all that had been in the blast’s area.

            Ryan then began dive bombing the Wurmple, taking out one of them with a direct hit from his beak. The three Wurmple on the trunk began to launch stinger barbs at the team, as Leo incinerated an uninjured advancing Wurmple.

Annika waited for a Wurmple to near her and then struck the foe with her dark-energy claw. The strike knocking out her enemy.

The Wurmple began to focus their attacks on Sapphire, who kept sending out sonic waves to wound large numbers of enemies at once. Leo continued targeting single enemies and burning them up with blasts of fire, while Ryan tried to draw the sniper enemies’ fire by swooping in and knocking out one of them with a beak-first strike.

As Annika fell back behind Leo, she kept making quick strikes out at her foes, injuring some Wurmple and dropping one of their number.

While Ryan was doing a decent job of evading the enemy’s attacks, and the Wurmples’ numbers were thinning, the horde began trying a new strategy. The two sniper Wurmple and a few of their advancing allies began to fire lines of webbing at the CAS Pokémon.

Sapphire was pinned down by three lines of webbing. Ryan evaded the webs and then dive bombed another enemy unconscious. Leo used a series of fire shots to incinerate the webbing aimed at him. Annika was pinned to the ground at the legs by two Wurmple’s stringy webbing.

As Ryan started to exclusively target the Wurmple left on the trunk, Sapphire was being mobbed by four Wurmple. Leo came to her aid and used his fire attack to blast one of her attackers away.

Annika was flanked by two Wurmple, the ones who had used webs to pin her down. One of them rushed at her and struck her hard. As the other came in, Annika was able to drop him with a dark-energy claw. Now faced with only one Wurmple, Annika saw that Ryan had cleared out one more Wurmple sniper and that Leo and Sapphire were now facing down only one foe.

The Wurmple engaging Annika saw her prepare her claws for his attack and then decided it would be better to retreat. As the remaining Wurmple rushed back towards the tree, Leo vengefully burned up one of them that had tried to attack Sapphire. Ryan dealt with the final sniper and Sapphire used a well-aimed beam of Water to down the final retreating enemy.

After using her claws to free herself, and helping Sapphire to get out of her web bindings, Annika breathed a sigh of relief and said, “That was unexpected. Still, whatever does not kill you makes you stronger… I guess.”

Ryan and Sapphire nodded as Annika looked over to Leo and opened her mouth wide. Leo’s entire body seemed to be glowing. Once the glowing stopped, Leo had evolved from Cyndaquil to Quilava. Leo then stood up on his hind legs and said, “I feel longer…that is for sure.”

Sapphire smiled at Leo and then added, “It seems that you were the first one among us to evolve. Your eyes do look more expressive now, I will say that.”

            Ryan then mentioned, “You should be able to run faster on all fours now, Leo. Anyway, we should focus on keeping moving. If any of the surviving Wurmple wake up, we will not want to be in the same vicinity as them if we want to avoid more trouble. The cocoons cannot attack us now, so I would recommend against us attacking them.”

            Annika then led her group further southwest. As they walked, she thought, “I wonder if I am even capable of evolution, since I was not born a Pokémon?”

            That day, in the early afternoon, the CAS team reached a large patch of ground where grass was not growing. In the center of that patch, they found the entrance to a cave, the one they had come to explore. Looking inside, they saw some luminescent fungi lighting the way.

            Annika told her teammates, “There it is…. Who wants to go in first?”       

            Ryan then said, “I think I will probably be the most effective down there, even though my flight will be restricted. I will go in first.”

            Ryan then led Annika, Leo and Sapphire, who was bringing up the rear as usual, downwards into the cave. Annika told her allies, “Whenever we see any materials that look valuable, we will document them if they line up with any of the pictures we were given. I will remain focused on looking for deposits that may be of value to the IMC.”

            Sapphire then chimed in, “I will focus on making sure that we are not ambushed from behind.”

            Leo finally added, “I will be able to light the way in case these fungi don’t grow in the entire cave.”

            The team of CAS members continued their advance into the cave, it was not long until they heard a faint rumbling and then saw four decently wide side passages branching out of the side of the main tunnel. One of the passages was much larger than the others.

            The sources of the rumbling turned out to be a trio of Phanpy and a Donphan. The Donphan rushed forward as the Phanpy started to fling rocks at the CAS team using their trunks.

            Ryan fluttered a bit into the air and then blasted the Donphan with a sharpened leaf. Sapphire followed up with a blast of high-pressure water, which connected with the Donphan as well.

            Leo ran around the Donphan bravely to close with the Phanpy and blast one of them with a pulse of fire. Annika followed Leo in and finished Leo’s target off with a quick claw punch that landed right between the Phanpy’s eyes.

            The charging Donphan then charged up his fangs with fire and bit into Ryan, who fluttered back in pain. Sapphire then moved up to cover Ryan as they kept blasting their foe.

            Annika engaged a Phanpy in close combat. She dodged her enemy’s flailing trunk and struck with her own claws, as Leo took a rock to the stomach and then responded by blowing smoke into his attacker’s face.

            The Donphan, who was still standing, then chomped into Sapphire with an electrified tooth. Sapphire was badly wounded as Annika managed to down a Phanpy with an energized claw.

            Leo then shouted, “Take out the last Phanpy! Then we can down their leader together!”

            Ryan and Sapphire both targeted the final Phanpy with their ranged attacks and she fainted. Then, Leo used a pulse of fire to further injure the Donphan.

            The now badly wounded and enraged Donphan then spun around and kicked up a massive amount of dirt, severely wounding Leo, and somewhat injuring Sapphire and Annika. Ryan seemed unaffected by the splashes of dirt that had been kicked up.

            The CAS Pokémon surrounded their defiant enemy and then each of them sent one final attack his way. The Donphan finally succumbed to his wounds and crashed to the ground as the CAS members all breathed sighs of relief.

            Annika then told her teammates, “We are all injured, but I think we should keep moving. This cave looks to go deeper than this. Let’s keep delving.”

            The CAS team regrouped in formation and then advanced deeper into the tunnel. Along the way, they lost track of time to an extent. They also managed to record the presence of some silver veins and a few veins of potentially valuable-looking ores as they headed deeper. Eventually, the tunnel flattened out and seemed to stop leading downwards. A number of glistening gems and crystals took over for the fungi as the light source in the area. Still, the light in the cave tunnel was dimmer at this point.

            The CAS Pokémon noticed the tunnel widening as they ended up encountering a unit of four Noibat flying through the cave at them. One of the flyers stayed back and said to the others, “Engage them. We will see how powerful these intruders are.”

            Sapphire looked Confused that one of their wild enemies was talking to them for once, as the other three Noibat dived towards the team.

            As the Noibat flew down, Sapphire unleashed a sonic cry. The attack seemed to badly wound the three Noibat. Then, Leo and Annika both leaped up and physically struck the same Noibat, downing her.

            Ryan shouted, “I am going after their leader!” He then flew into the rear Noibat at full speed and stuck his surprised foe.

            As Ryan and the Noibat began to dogfight. Annika had her shoulder bitten into by a hostile Noibat. Sapphire had some of her life force drained by her foe and she staggered back in pain.

            Leo shouted, “I’m coming my love!” He then tackled the Noibat who was attacking Sapphire into a nearby cave wall.

            As Sapphire advanced forward to try and help Ryan, Annika swatted at her attacker with a dark-energy claw, weakening her foe.

            Ryan’s foe kept striking Ryan with his wings, Ryan was clearly getting weaker faster than his enemy.

            Leo then kept battering the Noibat who had attacked Sapphire, getting bitten in the process.

Annika had a small amount of her life force drained out, but she then launched herself into the air and used a claw strike to drop her attacker.

As Annika landed, she saw Ryan partially retreating to allow Sapphire to blast his attacker with her piercing voice. Ryan then dive-bombed Leo’s foe and downed him with a rapid, unexpected, strike.

Annika and Leo both ran forward to engage the Noibat leader who then grimaced and used a draining attack on Sapphire. Sapphire seemed very wobbly as Leo looked deeply concerned and fired a pulse of flame at the Noibat.

The Noibat leader dodged the blast of fire, as Ryan looped around to join the attack. He then told the CAS Pokémon, “It’s just me and the four of you! Let’s see what we are all made of!”

Sapphire groaned with pain and then blasted one more screech upwards as the Noibat dove down to finish her. Leo then leapt into the air and grabbed then Noibat, taking a wing strike in the process.

The two Pokémon then came crashing down to the ground. Sapphire smiled over at Leo as she slumped to the ground, trying to rest a bit. Annika and Ryan then ran over to where the two Pokémon had landed. The Noibat slowly got up and then stood over Leo he opened his mouth and then was knocked down and away by a surprise strike from Ryan. Leo then slowly got up, looked up at Ryan and said, “Thanks buddy.”

Leo then went over to Sapphire and knelt over her. Annika walked over to the now barely conscious Noibat who, breathing heavily, looked up at her and smiled. Annika gave her beaten foe an odd look, as he said, “You all are the better fighters. That much is now obvious. I shall not stand in your way any longer, my only question is who are you?”

As Leo was slowly helping the injured Sapphire up, Annika sternly told her defeated enemy, “We are the Creekside Adventurers’ Society. We have come to scout out this cave for what resources may be found within it. My name is Annika.”

The Noibat slowly got up and then told Annika, “You can call me Drake.”

Annika raised an eyebrow and then asked, “Aren’t you wild? I thought your kind did not have names?”

Drake chuckled and then told Annika, “It is a long story. Maybe I can tell you later? For now, you have beaten me and the group I was assigned to command. I have never been to Creekside Town, but I have heard that it is a nice, and relatively wealthy, community. If you would take me there, I will gladly help you dispose of my current master.”

Annika looked surprise and then asked, “Why would you betray your master? Also, master?”

Drake nodded as he got up more fully and then said, “I have been serving the master of this cave in exchange for being allowed to live here. However, your party of adventurers intrigues me. I would like to go back to Creekside Town with you. However, I want my current master defeated so that I can safely leave. How does one join your society, anyway?”

Annika looked very surprised and then she heard Ryan asking, “What are you talking to him about? Are we letting him go?”

Annika turned around and saw that Leo had helped Sapphire back onto her flippers. She also noticed that Ryan had evolved into a Dartrix while she had been talking to Drake. Drake then said, “After losing to all of you, I see that you are the superior fighters. To add, your comradeship with each other is obvious based on your actions in combat. If you help me defeat my master, I will help accompany you back to town. I miss civilization, anyways.”

Sapphire looked over at Drake and then said, “If you really want to help us, you will go first when we confront your ‘master.’ That is the only way we can trust you.”

Drake simply responded, “Deal. I will give my ‘resignation’ and then you can report what my master is hoarding to your employers.”

Leo asked, “Well, now I want to see what he is hoarding. Maybe it is really valuable?”

Drake then turned deeper into the cave and said, “It is a number of things, actually. Shall we advance?”

Annika nodded, but then she said, “I think that we will trust you for now. However, I want to know how you ended up here eventually. Ideally sooner rather than later.”

Drake sighed and then nodded, saying, “Let’s go then.”

Annika and her three allies began to follow Drake to go and confront his master at the bottom of the tunnel.


	14. The End of the Tunnel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! For some personal reasons, I have decided to bring this story up to my old twice a week posting schedule. From now on, this story will post every Tuesday and Friday until it is fully posted. I also have to report that I have discontinued work on this story's planned sequel. I realized that I have written enough PMD stories for the time being. I will consider announcing my next writing project in the author's notes of this story later on, if it seems appropriate to do so. I am not even sure if my potential next story would work well on this website, even though what I am currently considering writing surely counts as fanwork. That is all I will say on that subject for now. Also, sorry for the tabbing issues, again.

            Annika, with her three companions behind her, was following their mysterious new potential ally, Drake the Noibat, through the depths of the cave tunnel. Sapphire brought up the group’s rear, while the newly-evolved Ryan flew up over Leo.

            Annika began to notice a number of non-luminescent colored stones embedded in the walls of the cave, as they seemed to be nearing the place where the tunnel would terminate.

            Drake then turned to Annika and told her, “We are almost at the bottom of this cave tunnel now. My ‘master’ Melchior awaits. Are you all ready?”

            Annika nodded and then told Drake, “You just better be honest in your intent to betray him. You have seen how strong we all are.”

            Drake smiled back at Annika and then told her, “Yes, I have seen that. I have felt it to.” He chuckled a bit at the end of his statement.

            Drake then led the CAS team down into a sloped pit located in the floor near where the cave tunnel seemed to have ended. When they reached the bottom, Annika saw a room covered with various valuable-looking stones of various shapes and colors. The farther part of the room was completely dark. A deep male voice called out from it, “Drake, who are these intruders you have brought here? Where are the rest of the guards you should be leading?”

            As the voice finished, four Gligar emerged from the dark part of the cave. Drake defiantly called back, “I am sorry, Melchior, but I have been bested by superior warriors. I am tired of this place anyway.”

            Melchior called back, “You ungrateful… Very well, kill them all! They will not be allowed to take any of the treasures of my cave!”

            The four Gligar dive-bombed the group as Ryan and Drake took to the air to engage them. Sapphire and Leo tried to snipe one of the Gligar. He was injured by Sapphire’s attack, but evaded Leo’s flaming shot.

Ryan and Drake then made a combined attack on another Gligar, severely wounding him after dodging a barb he had sent their way.

Annika dodged a barb from a third Gligar and then said, “I feel cold…and it feels good!” Annika held out her claws and then partially froze the air in between them. She then projected the blast of frozen air forward, downing her attacker in a single shot.

            The fourth Gligar grazed the ground, kicking up some mud that then collided with Leo, injuring him and getting in his eyes.

            Sapphire looked up at two of the Gligar that were regrouping and blasted the two of them with her screeching voice. The Gligar she had previously injured fainted and fell to the ground, while the other kept flying.

            Leo sent out another flame blast at the weakened Gligar who had wounded him. He was only able to hit the ceiling, since there was still mud in his eyes.

Annika then looked at the same Gligar as he dive-bombed her. She used a second blast of ice to down him before he could reach her.

As Ryan and Drake kept battling with the final Gligar, in the air, Annika saw two more Gligar emerging from the shadows as Melchior called out, “Deal with them! I am not pleased with your comrades’ performance so far.”

Both of the new Gligar were damaged by Sapphire’s sonic screech. Leo then, with the mud wiped off of his eyes, took down one of them with a flaming shot to the head.

Ryan then used one of his leafy daggers to finish the Gligar he and Drake had been fighting.

As Annika lined up the final enemy in her sights, a male Gliscor made a flying charge out of the darkness and shouted, “Traitor!” at Drake. Melchior then grabbed Drake in his jaws and used his claws and stinger to hook on to the roof. He then charged up his fangs with cold energy and bit down. Ryan was struck by the last Gligar and was knocked to the ground as Drake screamed in pain.

            Annika told her allies, “Deal with the last minion. I am going to try and get the big bastard’s attention!”

            Leo and Sapphire went to help Ryan deal with the final Gligar. As they were doing that, Annika charged another blast of wind and then fired it into Melchior as he tried to make Drake his dinner.

            Melchior let go of Drake to screech in pain. Drake fell to the floor, only barely conscious after being punctured by Melchior’s teeth. Then, Melchior charged off of the wall towards Annika. This time, his fangs were charged with fire.

            Annika tried to evade Melchior’s attack, but she was bitten into by his flaming teeth. Annika felt her insides literally burning up and let out a cry of severe pain.

            Then, Annika saw Ryan carrying Leo up into the air and dropping him onto Melchior’s back. Ryan then sniped Melchior with his grassy pulses. Leo began to strike Melchior, shouting, “Let go of her!”

            Annika then saw that Sapphire was standing triumphantly over the defeated Gligar. After that, she saw that Sapphire seemed to be aiming at her. However, her watery attack seemed to go through the ground. Sapphire blasted Melchior with a jet of high-pressure water from below him.

            Melchior seemed unwilling to release Annika from his jaws, even though he was starting to breath heavily. As Drake tried to haul himself up, Annika glared into her foes eyes, stuck her claws deep into his mouth and channeled a blast of intense cold directly into his innards.

Melchior let out a scream of excruciating pain as he let go of Annika, who landed on her feet gracefully. He then screamed, “My treasures!” And collapsed to the floor.

Ryan landed and then examined what was left of Melchior, as Drake struggled to his feet. Ryan then declared, “Well, this one is certainly dead. Annika, I think you destroyed… never mind, what matters is that he is dead.”

Annika simply nodded as she tried to catch her breath, still badly wounded. Leo then went over to Annika and was about to speak when he pointed to Sapphire.

Sapphire’s entire body had been glowing brightly. She then evolved from Popplio to Brionne. Leo almost seemed to have little hearts coming out of his head as he stared, almost mindlessly, at Sapphire after her evolution completed.

Annika mentally acknowledged that Sapphire’s new form was more feminine than her original one was. She then saw Drake slowly walking over to the rest of the group. He said, “Good job, the greed-crazed Melchior is no more. I nearly lost my life in the process, but I am free to return to town with you all now. Annika… thank you for drawing his attack. I could have died in his maw if he had kept gnawing on me.”

Annika blushed and then replied, “What is done is done. Now, why don’t we finish up out little geological survey and get out of here. Maybe we will leave the bodies to the IMC after making sure the survivors flee this place.”

            As Annika’s team was recovering from their injuries, they began to write down the various rare and valuable items that Melchior had been hoarding in the cave. Along with rare metals and basic ores, the deeper levels of the cave seemed to have some evolutionary stones and a few spherical stones that the CAS members could not identify precisely. After finishing up their survey, Annika’s team, including Drake, returned to the surface after removing the bodies of as many of the still breathing wild Pokémon as they could from the cave.

            Once they had completed the survey and cleared the tunnel out as best as they could, Annika, still feeling a bit woozy, lead her allies outside to discover that it was night out. Annika then said, “We will rest the night and then set off for Creekside Town tomorrow morning. Get some well-earned sleep, everyone.”

            That night, Annika had the final watch, in order to allow her to sleep her enflamed wounds off. After Ryan woke her up, she took up her watch position.

As the sun began to rise, Annika heard a noise from behind her, she saw that Drake had fluttered over and was now standing next to her. Drake smiled over at Annika and then asked her, “So, what happens once we get back to Creekside Town?”

Annika chuckled and then replied, “Well, I assume that my team will get paid. Then, if you wish, you can join with us as our fifth member. I will warn you of two things, though. One, you will probably have to obtain Creekside Town citizenship a week from when you arrive in town, so that you can stay with us. Two, within a month we will be up for review. That means that the local government will be deciding whether or not to let us keep our current base of operations, which they gave to us.”

Drake nodded and then said, “I hope that my association with your group will help me become a citizen of Creekside Town. It seems that your adventurers’ society is a relatively new feature of the settlement?”

Annika nodded yes and then told Drake, “Now, I think that you have to fulfill your end of our deal. I want to know what led you to that cave, since it seems that you were civilized before.”

Drake nodded and then told Annika, “A deal is a deal. You want the truth; you shall have it. After all, I owe you my life, possibly twice?”

Annika then folded her arms and allowed Drake to begin.

Drake then told Annika, “I was born into a civilized family on the western coast of this island. It is a decent journey from here, but you could probably get there within a week if you walked from here straight west. My father was a proud and respected mercenary captain. As his oldest son, he was training and raising me to both continue his line and his family’s business. The family business part I was fine with. I have always been the warrior type. However, I was less willing to find a wife, if you know what I mean?”

Annika simple nodded and smiled over at Drake, saying, “I have never been romantically involved myself. I will say that I would not be willing to find a husband… if you know what I mean?”

Drake then said, “Ahh…maybe you will understand why my family considered me an embarrassment and denied me my inheritance of the family business then. I was not actually disowned, but I was given far less attention by my family once I told them the truth. They also said that I would not be allowed to take over the family business, I was not even allowed to serve in the company, actually.”

Annika then replied, “I never knew my parents, to be honest. I was abandoned at birth. So, I don’t know what they would have thought of my being a homosexual.”

Drake then finished, “I guess that both of us have no family, then. Anyway, I ran away from home, wanting to become an independent mercenary. I sought shelter in the cave on night and was taken to Melchior once his minions discovered me. I was offered leadership of that small squad, but I soon realized that all of the cave’s Pokémon feared Melchior and simply were acting to help him defend his beloved treasure. Unable to leave, I waited for the day I could safely escape, or fall in battle.”

Annika then told Drake, “Well, the Creekside Adventuring Society is happy to have you. We will begin our trek back home tomorrow. I wonder if, as long as we can find a few more members, we can eventually make a ‘B team’ of CAS Pokémon. We do have a ‘secretary’ right now, but she is too young to go on missions with us as of this moment. We may be able to begin carefully training her soon, however.”

Drake saluted Annika and then told her, “I will trust your judgement. Hopefully your society having recruited a new member, me, will help ensure that you are allowed to keep your building.”

Annika nodded back at Drake as he then asked her, “What are the stories behind Leo, Ryan and Sapphire? They only officially introduced themselves to me once we defeated Melchior.”

Annika replied, as her other comrades began to wake up, “Leo was a former odd-jobs Pokémon who found me as I wandered north towards Creekside. Sapphire is Leo’s childhood friend and, as you may have seen, the only object of his romantic desires. She was a former low-level dock manager. Ryan is our liaison with the local Scouts, the closest thing to a military that Creekside Town has. He is also a long-term friend of Leo and Sapphire.”

            Drake nodded and then said, “So, Ryan is a military Mon. I think that we will get along just fine. …And I don’t necessarily mean that in a romantic way.”

            Annika giggled as she walked over to pick up her pack. After everyone was awake, the four CAS members and their new recruit then set off to return to town.

            In a couple of days, Annika, Leo, Sapphire, Ryan and Drake had all made it back to Creekside town. Annika and her teammates handed their results over to Horton, who seemed immensely pleased. He then payed them each the biggest sum they had ever earned for one mission. Horton also told them that mining teams from the IMC would arrive in Creekside within the next month.

            Annika, Leo, Sapphire and Ryan all pitched in to give Drake a room to stay in at the Creekside Tavern for the week before he would be brought before Marius. Annika also saw that Linda had written down a few minor job requests for the CAS. When she relieved Linda of duty, she gave her a few small Poké coins and promised her that she would be a full and active CAS member one day.

 After Linda excitedly ran home, Leo entered the CAS base, alone. He was grinning ear-to-ear.

Annika asked Leo, “What is going on?”

Leo responded, still grinning, “Sapphire… she is going to let me take her out to dinner tonight. And call it a date this time!”

Annika smiled back at Leo and then said, “Maybe you finally demonstrated your love for her when she saw your willingness to protect her in the cave?”

Leo nodded and then said, “Either way, I finally have a date with Sapphire! I just wanted you to know, Annika. Thank you for founding the CAS. Without it, I may have never been able to show Sapphire my love, even if we keep risking out lives. …also all of the money we have made is quite nice.”

Annika then told Leo, as he was turning to leave, “Tomorrow, I would like to start taking on some of the minor jobs that were requested when we were away. So be here then. We need to do everything we can to win this building’s permanent deed!”

Leo simply nodded as he happily left the building.

Annika then looked down at the three minor job requests and thought about which one was most urgent.


	15. The Review

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the tabbing issues. I still am not sure how to possibly get rid of that problem. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

            It was the morning after Annika had last spoken with her friend Leo. She was sitting behind the desk at the CAS office, having already decided which order her group was to take on their next few job requests in.

            Annika heard a knock on the front door and wondered to herself, “Whoever that is, they are a bit early. I wonder if it is someone else wanting to hire us?”

            Annika then walked up to the door and opened it. It turned out that Sapphire was the one standing at the door. Annika let her inside and asked her, “You are here early? What’s up… did you actually go out with Leo last night?”

            As the two girls neared the desk, Sapphire replied, “Yes, we did. Leo was a real gentlemon. Despite his somewhat miserly nature, he made sure to pay for everything. What I am here to warn you about is that he will probably be ‘on cloud nine’ today, because… I gave him a brief kiss at the end of the meal when we had just left the restaurant. It was somewhat on impulse…but it made him really happy.”

            Annika looked somewhat surprised, saying, “Ok, that is all your business, to be honest. Thank you for warning me, though. You know that Leo does really care about you. I don’t think that anyone else in the world could make him happy like you do. Anyway, I have our next few missions lined up. We will take care of them and by around that time, Drake should be up for a citizenship review.”

            Sapphire nodded and then said, “I know that Leo wants to marry me. I even know that Ryan would be his best mon, because Leo and Ryan made a deal to be at each other’s weddings in that capacity when we were all kids. I just don’t want to take this too fast, even if Leo and I do end up together after all.”

Annika nodded at Sapphire, understanding what she meant. Then, the two of them waited for more of their allies to arrive.

            It was not long until Leo, Ryan and Drake showed up at the CAS base. Leo, as Sapphire had indicated was in an excellent and bouncy mood as he walked over to Sapphire and dutifully stood next to her. Sapphire blushed a bit as Leo gave her a wide grin.

            Annika then cleared her throat and told her allies, “Ok, everyone, we will have three jobs to take care of ideally before Drake is to be brought before Patrician Marius. The first of them is to escort a small flotilla of merchant barges out of port and a bit to the east of here. The second involves protecting some local Pokémon as they try to raise a new farming homestead directly to the west of town. Finally, an established farm has requested our help dealing with a couple of wild Poochyena packs that have recently arrived in the area. We will head out to the port in a few hours, after I have Linda come over here to do her job.”

            Annika’s allies saluted her and then Drake asked, “From what I have noticed, Creekside Town does not actually have all that many nearby farms. How does the populace here stay as well fed as they seem to be?”

            Ryan quickly responded, “We do a lot of trading with Greenprairie Village to the southeast of here. They are a predominantly agricultural community, focused on the growing and harvesting of crops. They export a lot of their harvest here. They also send some of the food they grow farther out using our port.”

            Drake nodded and then Annika headed out to go find Linda.

            Over the next week, the CAS managed to, with the help of their newest active member, complete their three newest assigned jobs in the vicinity of Creekside Town. Drake was paid as a member of the CAS and was soon able to fund his own stay at the Creekside Tavern inn.

After the CAS team had cleared their calendar of missions, the day came when Drake was to be called before the Patrician. Annika had asked Drake to meet with her at the CAS base the morning of the day when he was to be taken before Marius. As the two of them stood just outside the base in the early morning light, Annika told her newest ally, “In a way, how positively Marius responds to you should be an indicator of how well our organization is being received. You should tell him that you have become a full and active member of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society. Hopefully you having a stable job with us will convince Marius that you should be allowed to stay here.”

Drake nodded back at Annika and then said, “I would not want to be kicked out of this place. It is not my first home, but it is a nice place to live. Also, I have come to enjoy working with the four of you. Your team knows how to fight and, as I said before, you all get along pretty well with each other. It seems as though there are no secrets among the members of the CAS.”

Annika tried to hide her slightly awkward look and then asked Drake, “Do you have any plans to move into a more permanent residence if you are approved for citizenship?”

Drake thought for a moment and then told Annika, “I might be allowed to build a small house for myself on a lot nearby where Ryan’s family lives. I still need to negotiate the deal with his parent’s, however. I have also been able to subtly confirm that Ryan himself is not interested in other males, so you should not read anything intimate into what I just said. …There actually is something I would like to ask you, Annika.”

Annika replied, “Ok? What is that?”

Drake asked, “What is it that you want? I now know that the CAS was your idea. And I think that it is a good idea. However, I am wondering what your long-term goal in life is, if you even have one. I will admit that I don’t even know what my own is, right now.”

Annika folded her arms and then told Drake, “This is mostly separate from the CAS, but I would honestly want to be part of a family. I never had parents, or siblings, and my earlier friends abandoned me when the truth about my orientation came out. I have enjoyed living here because I have felt like I am not alone for the first time in a long while. Making friends here has been great, but what I have really always wanted was to be truly loved in some way, by just about anyone.”

Drake simply nodded as Annika was finishing up, he then told her, “The best thing that I can tell you now is that I think you deserve love. …I see a trio of Pokémon approaching.”

Annika nodded as she saw Jeremy and his two assistant officers approaching the CAS headquarters. She then told Drake, “Those three are here to escort you to Patrician Marius. Good luck buddy.”

Drake smiled back at Annika. Then, he walked over to Jeremy and his two Spinarak. The three officers then took Drake to meet with the Patrician.

Annika nervously waited for what felt like hours until Drake returned from his meeting with Marius. When he arrived at the base, Annika asked him, “How did it go?”

Drake responded, “After talking with Marius, he said that I could be granted citizenship. It seems that citizenship is mainly denied to potential residents that have no job prospects. He also asked me to tell you that Ryan will be informed of the day the local government will choose to review the progress of the CAS. That will probably be around three or four days in advance of the actual review. He will be allowed to warn the rest of the group once he is given that information. He also told me that the review day itself will occur in less than two weeks from now.”

Annika nodded and then smiled back at Drake, saying “Good job. I guess the last real hurdle to us being in business more permanently is securing the deed to this building. We will inform the other three members of the results of your meeting when they all get here. Then, we can all go out and celebrate.”

Drake nodded and then saluted Annika, smiling and saying, “Yes ma’am!”

Later on, Annika and Drake’s three companions arrived at the CAS base. The five of them went out for dinner that evening and celebrated Drake being granted his citizenship.

It was less than ten days, and only a couple of minor jobs, from Drake’s citizenship-granting hearing, when Ryan assembled the current CAS members including Linda. He told them that it would only be another two days until all active CAS members would be called to the Patrician’s ‘palace’ for their review hearing at noon.

After Ryan finished, Annika announced, “When we are called in, Linda will stay here to mon the base. When we return, we should hopefully know whether or not we are allowed to keep the building. We won’t take on any jobs between now and then since we don’t want to be out of town when the hearing commences.”

All five of Annika’s allies saluted her and then got to work taking inventory and otherwise preparing for their review in two days.

Thankfully, the CAS received no new jobs between the announcement of their review day and the day itself arriving. Before noon, Annika, Leo, Sapphire, Ryan and Drake left Linda in charge and walked over to the government district. They were allowed in by the Town Watch officers guarding the gate and told to proceed to the building next to the meeting tent at the back of the walled district.

Annika and her allies walked into the governmental palace of Creekside Town and were then ushered by a Poliwhirl guard to a room in the basement where they found a panel of five Pokémon awaiting them.

Marius, wearing his usual outfit, was at the center of the panel. To the right of him, from his perspective were Watch Captain Samson and Wing-Commander Serena. To the other side of Marius were Dock-Manager Alexander and Prelate Aurelia.

Annika and her four allies were all ushered to a series of chairs behind one large wooden table by the guard, who then went to stand watch at the door.

            Marius then looked over the five CAS members and began, “Thank you all for coming. I know that my governance committee members all have busy schedules. To proceed, I will now explain how this meeting will work. This governance committee has already reviewed the reports that Scout Ryan has made to us about the efforts of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society. The other four members of my committee will be allowed to say what they think of the CAS. Then, the CAS members present here may make a statement in defense of their continued operation of a building that is technically government property. After that, we will vote. If my committee votes in favor of the CAS, then they will be granted permission to operate and own the building indefinitely. If we vote against the CAS, the organization may continue to operate in this town, but will have to find a new base of operations. If there is somehow a tie in the voting, then my vote will break the tie. That is, unless I decide on a new condition rather than grant the deed or revoke it permanently.”

            Annika and her allies all nodded as Marius then continued, “Serena, why don’t you start us off.”

            Serena nodded and then said, “The four original CAS members turned out to be very helpful in the operation to end the presence of the bandit camp on the south riverbank. They personally, at great risk, secured the surrender of the bandit’s leader before she could escape with some of her ill-gotten loot. I support giving them the building on a permanent basis.”

            Marius nodded and then pointed to Alexander who said, “Even though I hated to lose Sapphire, since she was such a good worker, the presence of the CAS has not only helped make the surrounding area safer, it has made merchants feel even better about docking at Creekside. So, I would say that the group has been enough of a boon to the region that we should grant them the old warehouse. And that is without even mentioning how they have brought in some business from the Intercontinental Mining Corporation to the area recently.”

            Marius then pointed to Samson, who said, “The CAS has helped capture bandits, who are now being held in my department’s prison. However, since my department mainly handles the internal affairs of the town proper. I will respectfully abstain from this vote.”

            Marius nodded, as Annika began to get more nervous, realizing that she still needed one more vote to get a majority of the five-member committee on her side. Then, Marius pointed to Aurelia, who was wearing her Prelate’s robe.

            Aurelia said, “While I understand the benefits that this organization has brought to this town, it has come to my attention that its leader is a foreign-born Pokémon. While I do not oppose the CAS on principle, I do not think that a government-owned building should be given to an organization run by someone who was not born here. Also, I know for a fact that she is not a believer in the faith of Suicune from a conversation I had with her personally. Not that all non-believers in Legendary Pokémon are evil, I just don’t trust them much.”

            Annika kept a straight face while thinking, “Religion strikes again, ugh!”

            Marius then looked over at Annika and her allies, saying, “Now it is time for the CAS to defend its efforts to this committee. Who shall speak for you?”

            Annika stood up and then told the committee, “I do not have any grand speech ready for you all. All I want to say is that you have read Ryan’s reports and you trust his loyalty to this settlement. We having been making a real positive difference in this area in a number of ways. All that I can say in my organization’s defense is that we plan to keep expanding and continue doing good for the community and the region, especially if you will grant us continuous use of our current base.”

            Marius then asked, “Committee members, how do you vote?”

            Serena and Alexander voted, “Aye!”

            Samson voted, “Abstain.”

            Aurelia voted, “Nay!”

            Marius then looked over his committee and voted, “Aye.” He then said, “I think that even if she is an unbeliever in the Legendary Pokémon, miss Annika’s group has been a solid boon to our settlement and should be allowed to operate in their current location. I will have them presented with the deed by the end of the day. This meeting is adjourned.”

            Aurelia did not seem particularly upset by her loss as the governance committee members and the CAS Pokémon left the meeting room.

Annika and her four friends all shared a group hug once they left the government district. They then set out to tell Linda what had happened. Later that day, they received permission from Linda’s parents to take her out for their celebratory dinner at the nicest restaurant in town. That afternoon, before leaving for dinner, the CAS members received the deed to their base from Jeremy. Annika planned on having it framed as a memento to the CAS’s accomplishments.


	16. A New Request

            Only a couple days after the review hearing, Annika was sitting behind the desk of the CAS base. On the wall behind her was the framed permanent deed to the building. She had been considering producing and spreading a new series of flyers around town in order to celebrate the CAS becoming a potentially permanent fixture in Creekside. Linda was, as usual, on call to do secretary work as soon as she was needed. Annika had also been considering finding a way to get Linda on a training schedule so that she could eventually fulfill her promise to make her a full member of the CAS.

            That day, Annika had assigned herself to watch over the base. Drake was busy trying to get progress started on a small home for himself. Ryan was making a bit more money by doing some work at the Scout’s headquarters, since he was still officially a Creekside Scout. Leo and Sapphire were going to go on a second date that night. Leo had talked Sapphire into it by saying that it would be their private way of celebrating the CAS’s recent successes and being given the building deed.

Annika casually sat in her chair, hoping that a job request would come in, since she had moved their outside sign to the open position. She had recently placed a few large pieces of tree bark in the storage room, in the hope that she could spend some time using her claws to make carvings in them if she got too bored while she was alone in the CAS base.

After yawning, Annika saw the front door, which she had left unlocked, opening. The Pokémon that buzzed into the room looked like an oversized dragonfly with dark-green skin.

The new arrival landed and then crawled over to Annika’s desk. He then asked, in an official sounding voice, “Are you the individual in charge of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society?”

Annika looked at the Yanmega and then replied, “Why yes, my name is Annika, what is yours?”

The Yanmega told Annika, “My name is Nero. I have come to meet with you ahead of the leader of my organization, who will arrive here with his attendant within the next week. Some word of your group’s deeds has spread to the north of this island. We are interested in obtaining the assistance of your society for an operation we are planning.”

Annika nodded and then asked Nero, “I am pleased to hear that our fame has spread north. As for your mission request, what is your organization called and what function does it perform? Also, what do you want to hire us to do?”

            Nero responded, “We are the Acolytes of the Mystic Lands, or the AML for short. As for what we do, we are a non-traditional religious movement. My leader, the Hierophant Lucius, may be willing to tell you more once he and his attendant, Alyssa, arrive in Creekside Town.”

            Annika looked somewhat confused and then asked Nero, “Ok, what do you want to hire my organization for in that case?”

            Nero continued, “Even as the head of recon for the AML, I don’t know the entire plan. What I can tell you is that we seek to reclaim a place that we believe is holy to our faith from some cultists who call themselves the Reavers of Yveltal. That cult is dedicated to the ancient Pokémon who is the incarnation of destruction, Yveltal. As such, they are quite dangerous and seek to destroy beautiful, and sometimes sacred places, and even sacrifice innocent Pokémon to their dark lord.”

            Annika nodded and then replied, “I hope that this Lucius of yours can explain his plan in full once he arrives here. You may tell your leader that the full CAS will meet with him once he arrives in person to discuss the job.”

            Nero nodded and then told Annika, “We certainly have the resources to pay your society, if you are willing to help us in this holy mission. However, I understand your wanting to see Lucius in person. I was simply sent here for the purpose of informing you of the Hierophant’s impending arrival in this town. I will go and inform him of your response, he will probably send Alyssa to meet with you first. She will check in with you and help to arrange a meeting. Does that work for you?”

            Annika nodded and then replied, “Ok, have this Alyssa show up here when Lucius arrives in town. I will see if I can talk with her and arrange a meeting.”

            Nero nodded back at Annika and then took off. He then finished, “I hope that we can do business and liberate the holy place, miss Annika.” After finishing his statement, Nero flew out the door and up into the sky.

            Once Nero had left, Annika thought for a moment and then said aloud, “My comrades are not due in until tomorrow. I should find out what I can about this religion of the Mystic Lands. I don’t like the idea of being employed by a religious group. However, I won’t turn down a client that needs the CAS’s help and is willing to pay for our services.”

            Annika then left the CAS base and turned the sign on the door to the closed position. She did not feel as though she needed to go retrieve Linda, since she only planned to be out for a couple hours and return after having lunch.

            Annika then took a deep breath and walked north to the place where she knew the local shrine to Suicune was. When she arrived, she found that Prelate Aurelia was on duty there. Her back was to Annika and she seemed to be sprinkling some small crystals into the water of Suicune’s River. Annika decided to wait until Aurelia had finished what she was doing and had performed a brief incantation to Suicune to talk to her.

            When Aurelia turned around, she saw Annika and looked briefly confused. She then rapidly regained her composure and asked, “Annika, wasn’t it? Why are you here? I would hope that you are not here to complain about my vote against you earlier. I would also hope that you are not here to gloat over the success of your proposal.”

            Annika nodded her head no and then folded her arms, she then replied, “I am not here to discuss the vote of the committee, even if I do think you are prejudiced against both the foreign-born and those who don’t share your faith. I have something else to ask you…”

            Aurelia interjected, “My issue with your foreign birth was mainly in the sense that you would be taking a local government building. You are still a Creekside citizen, after all. I’m sorry that I interrupted. What is your question? Is this the question you were so afraid to ask me before?”

            Annika blushed a bit, remembering her first encounter with Aurelia. She then said, “This is a new question. I was wondering what you knew about a religious movement called the Acolytes of the Mystic Lands? I spoke with someone who was a member of that faith earlier today. I have never heard of them before.”

            Aurelia nodded and then told Annika, “I know a decent bit about them. Personally, I don’t trust them much, but that might be my more traditionalist view of religion talking. The AML is a relatively recently established religious movement that does not venerate any specific Legendary Pokémon. What they claim to do is worship and conduct rituals at ‘Mystic Circles.’”

            Annika then asked, “What are these Mystic Circles?”

            Aurelia replied, “The Mystic Circles are areas of the world where the AML claims Legendary Pokémon were born. The AML claims that mortal Pokémon can use the residual power inherent in the Mystic Circles to their benefit. The AML claims to venerate all Legendary Pokémon in some sense by worshipping the places of their births. There have been some reports of mystical markings in various places all over the world, such as one inside of a volcano on this island to the north of here, one deep underwater in an ocean basin and even in this island’s Golden Forests decently far to the south of here by road. However, even if the Mystic Circles are the places where Legendary Pokémon were born, I do doubt that mortal Pokémon could gain much by tapping into any energy left in those ancient places.”

            Annika nodded and then asked Aurelia, “So, what is your opinion of the AML, ultimately? I have been told that their leader wants to meet with me and that he will be visiting this town with his attendant within the next week.”

            Aurelia thought what Annika had told her over for a moment and then replied, “I have heard of Hierophant Lucius before. He is an old Pokémon from an old species. He seems like a somewhat charismatic and very devoted religious leader who is often a bit secretive, from what I have heard. As I said before, I have a bit of a bias against the AML since they are a non-standard religious movement. Due to the fact, priests devoted to actual legendary Pokémon often have a more negative opinion of them. If you want to work with them, that is not my concern. I hope that I gave you some helpful information.”

            Annika nodded and then smiled faintly and awkwardly at Aurelia, she then said, “You have given me some valuable context for what may be my adventurers’ society’s next mission. I do appreciate it.”

            Aurelia nodded and then told Annika, “All that I ask in exchange is that you ask me your initial question. I know that when we first met, the question that you actually asked me was not the question that you really wanted to ask. I have enough experience conversing with and counseling others that I would know this. So, what did you really want to ask me before?”

            Annika staggered a bit and then gave Aurelia a brief glare. She then sighed deeply and gave the Prelate a brief pleading look. Seeing that Aurelia’s expression was unchanging, Annika took a deep breath and then asked, “What is your opinion on homosexuals?”

            Aurelia thought for a second and then replied, “To me, what makes love true is the content of a relationship. It is not necessarily who is involved in the relationship that matters. I have married all sorts of couples in my time as the Creekside Town Prelate, I will say that.”

            Annika, who was admittedly somewhat relieved, nodded and then said, “Thank you for your time. I will see you around.” Annika then left the shrine and went out to lunch by herself.

The next day, Annika assembled all of the active CAS members in the base, where she explained what she knew of the next major job request to all of them. She had also told her allies what Aurelia had told her both about the AML and about her views on homosexuality.

            Drake began, “I don’t see much of a problem with us doing a job for a somewhat unorthodox client. I say that we meet with this Lucius and see what exactly he wants from us and what he has to offer in return for our services.”

            Leo nodded and then added, “I think that as long as we are paid and fighting obvious villains there should not be a problem.”

            Sapphire mentioned, “We should not be discriminatory about our clients.”

            Ryan just mentioned, “I just hope that they all get here safely, more reports of Articuno harassing Pokémon and destroying crops have been coming in from north of Suicune’s River lately.”

            Annika then finished, “I will endeavor to be on duty when this Alyssa shows up. Then, I will speak with her and then later we will hopefully all meet with the Hierophant Lucius.”

during the next few days, the CAS members made sure to take care of a minor job involving escorting some Pokémon coming up north to Creekside Town from the southern parts of the island before Lucius’s arrival was likely.

            One day at around noon, Annika was monning the desk, the CAS had no current active job requests at that time. She had left the door unlocked and it opened to reveal a female Riolu who was wearing a traveling pack.

            Annika smiled warmly at the Riolu and then asked her, “Are you Alyssa, by chance? You may put your pack down on a chair either way.”

            The Riolu nodded, and then replied, “Yes, my name is Alyssa. You must be Annika.”

            Annika simply nodded, smiling back at Alyssa and thinking, “I forgot what it felt like… to find another girl to be beautiful. When I became a Pokémon, it seems like I did change in terms of my attractions, after all.”

            Alyssa then put her pack down on a chair. She then looked over at Annika and snapped her out of her brief “trance” by asking, “Are you ok?”

Annika focused in on Alyssa, smiled and then replied, “Never better.”


	17. The Acolytes of the Mystic Lands

            Annika was sitting behind her desk in the CAS base. She had just been brought back to reality after having briefly lost herself looking at the newly arrived Alyssa, the Riolu attendant of the AML Hierophant Lucius. Alyssa seemed to focus herself and then she told Annika, “You were expecting me, seeing as though you knew my name. Nero did report back that you had been informed of our impending arrival.”

            Annika nodded and then asked, “I have not really been north of Creekside Town in my life. How was the trip here? Did you encounter any problems?”

            Alyssa replied, “No, we did not encounter much trouble. Thankfully, we did not encounter many bandits or hostile wild Pokémon. With myself, my master Lucius, Nero and Lucius’s bodyguard we would probably deter, or outright be able to defeat, them anyway.”

            Annika just nodded, and then asked, “So you did not encounter the rampaging Articuno that I keep hearing about?”

            Alyssa nodded no and then said, “Lucius took special care to make sure that we would not be in the path of that ancient creature. I do hope that she calms down soon. It would be a shame for anyone else to be harmed by her rampage or for such a magnificent Pokémon to be slain, if that is even possible.”

            Annika then focused herself a bit and mentioned, “Why don’t we get down to business. Apparently, your leader, the Hierophant Lucius, wants to hire my adventurers’ society to help reclaim a ‘sacred place’ from a cult dedicated to a Pokémon called Yveltal?”

            Alyssa’s face took on a serious look as she nodded. She then said, “That is correct. My master’s previous research in the Golden Forests has led him to believe that a clearing at the center of the forest contains the Mystic Circle where Xerneas was born. Xerneas is the Legendary Pokémon who represents life. Her birthplace has been discovered by one of the cults dedicated to her nemesis, Yveltal. This one calls itself the Reavers and seems to be led by a male Incineroar. The Reavers seem to be trying to find a way to destroy the Mystic Circle itself in order to show their defiance of Xerneas and their support for her arch-foe. My faith is strongly opposed to the destruction of any Mystic Circles. Therefore, we want to destroy the Reaver Cult that is desecrating the forest and make sure that the location itself is preserved for the good of Pokémon-kind in the future.”

            Annika nodded and then asked Alyssa, “And you want us to help you destroy this cult and secure the location for your movement. What is the Hierophant Lucius offering in exchange for our help?”

            Alyssa replied, “I see that you are someone focused on physical rewards, miss Annika. I can tell you that the AML is fully prepared to pay each member of your society that participates in the mission handsomely for your work. In fact, my master may even have a special physical reward for you, actually.”

            Annika looked a bit guilty and then quickly mentioned, “Well, my society members, including myself, do need to be paid for our risky work and I am interested in this other reward you mentioned. Still, I understand that this cult to Yveltal needs to be dealt with. Miss Alyssa, please understand that I can be motivated by altruism as well as monetary pay. The CAS’s very first mission involved rescuing a young girl who had run away to the Gray Forests just south of here. We undertook the job without pay even being pre-arranged for it. In the end, we received more money than we bargained for from the grateful family.”

            Alyssa nodded and then smiled at Annika, replying, “I know that your organization needs money in order to stay afloat. I am sorry that I briefly pegged you as a pure businesswomon. Anyway, my master and Nero are securing lodgings for the duration of our stay in town. I was told to go meet with you to inform you of our arrival in town. Assuming that Lucius can find spots at the Creekside Tavern for the three of us, he will want to have an official meeting with you all this evening over dinner.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “That is agreeable to me. What about the fourth member of your party? That bodyguard you mentioned to me earlier?”

            Alyssa replied, “You seem to have a good memory. Titus, as he is called, is more than a little too large for the tavern. That is all I will say about him for now.”

            Annika then, wondering what Titus was, asked Alyssa, “Do you have to return to your boss, now that we have set up tonight’s meeting?”

            Alyssa replied, “I am not required to return to him until dinnertime. Still, don’t you have to locate your comrades and inform them of the plan? I would hope that you already told them of our upcoming collaboration.”

            Annika quickly nodded and then said, “Yes, the other four CAS members are aware of your movement wanting to contract us for a joint-mission. I was just thinking that I could show you around the town, as a way of making up for some of my earlier rudeness. Since the CAS is about to take on your request, I should be fine to leave the place closed. You can leave your pack here, if you want, or you can take it with you.”

            Alyssa seemed to be thinking things over and then, “It would be rude of me to refuse your offer. Especially since we are going to be working together, however briefly that may be. I will just take a bit of money with me and leave my pack here, if that is ok with you. I will need to retrieve it later, though.”

            At that point, the door opened to reveal Leo standing in it. He looked over at Annika and then over at Alyssa and then politely asked, “What’s going on here?”

            Annika told Leo, “This is Alyssa, she has come on behalf of the Hierophant Lucius to meet with me. It looks like the plan is for all of us to meet with Lucius this evening at the Creekside Tavern for dinner and planning our joint-mission. I was actually just about to show Alyssa around Creekside. Could you do me a major favor and go inform Sapphire, Ryan and Drake about our meeting tonight?”

            Leo nodded back at Annika and gave her a stealthy wink. He then walked over to Alyssa and shook her paw-like hand, saying, “My name is Leopold, or Leo for short. It’s nice to meet you, Alyssa. “He then turned to Annika, saying, “If you want to show our new associate around town, that sounds good. I will find Sapphire and then we will go locate Ryan and Drake. I’ll make sure that everyone else knows of our meeting this evening.”

            Leo then quickly darted out of the room and Alyssa took a smaller pouch out of her pack. Alyssa then asked Annika, “I assume that that was one of the members of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society? He seemed nice and loyal enough.”

            Annika nodded as she grabbed her own money pouch, she then replied, “Leo was honestly my first real friend in a long time. He gave me shelter for my first week in town, before I was to be called before the Patrician. He is a good friend, even though he is admittedly quite interested in what you called physical rewards.”

            Alyssa nodded and then the two of them left the building. Annika locked the door behind her and then she led Alyssa off to get lunch. As they were on the way, with Alyssa walking beside and just a bit behind Annika, Annika asked, “I know that you just arrived in town, but how are you liking Creekside so far?”

            Alyssa smiled as they neared the restaurant and then replied, “It is a nice town. Honestly, it is one of the richer settlements that I have personally visited. From what I have seen, it seems to be a prosperous and pleasant place to live.”

            Annika simply nodded and then held the door for Alyssa when they reached a small café. Annika often ate at the café when she was by herself during a mealtime.

            The two of them enjoyed a quick lunch and talked about the AML members journey down south from the northern portion of the island. Another topic of conversation between Annika and Alyssa was the major missions that the CAS had undertaken before, including the rescue of Linda, the raid on the riverside bandits and the clearing of the cave for mining and the recruitment of Drake that occurred on that expedition. Annika also gave Alyssa the basic rundown on the other members of the CAS, she left Drake’s orientation out of her description of him when she came around to him last.

            After leaving the café, Annika led Alyssa south to a small open-air bazaar where visiting and local traders would buy and sell all sorts of goods and luxury items. As the pair walked over, Annika decided to ask Alyssa, “I was wondering, how did you become the attendant to Hierophant Lucius? That seems like a prestigious position and you seem relatively young. You are probably not much older, or younger, than I am.”

            Alyssa looked over at Annika and then explained, “I will see if I can tell you somewhat quickly. You will need some background first. I came into the service of the Hierophant Lucius when he was on the continent of my birth to the far east. He was there trying to locate and study the birth place of the Legendary Phoenix Ho-oh, the creator of your local deity, Suicune. I was apparently wild at birth. Whatever became of my parents, I was taken captive at a young age by civilized Pokémon operating out of a coastal city. Since I had been born wild, I had no rights in the city and was put up for sale by the slavers who had captured me. I was young enough to be sold at a low price and was purchased by Lucius when he wanted someone to help him during his stay on the continent. Since Lucius was my master at that point, I followed him home to his camp up north on this island. Once we returned to the camp, I met his bodyguard, Titus and was introduced to more of the other AML members.”

            Annika then asked, “Wait, you are his slave? In that case, you really do not have a choice in serving him…”

            Alyssa nodded her head no and then interjected, “Lucius officially freed me once we reached his camp. Since I owed him my freedom and had nowhere else to go, I opted to join his movement. After versing myself in the beliefs and goals of the faith of the Mystic Lands, I managed to receive an official appointment to the position of attendant to the Hierophant. I got the job through my loyalty and willingness to dedicate myself to the AML. After naming myself Alyssa, since I had no name before then, I have served Lucius faithfully ever since.”

            Annika nodded and replied, “I am sorry that I assumed that you were still a slave. I guess that Lucius values the work you do for him. He must have picked you for the attendant job on your own merits. I will also admit that I have historically been unsympathetic to religion, for personal reasons. I will say that I am also an orphan. As for why I dislike religion, I was abandoned at birth and raised in an orphanage run by a religious order dedicated to Arceus. They did not treat me very well, to say the least.”

            Alyssa looked concerned and then asked Annika, “Why did they not treat you well? I don’t think that you deserve any kind of abuse, if anyone does?”

            Annika blushed a bit and then replied, “Their order is opposed to homosexuality… and I am a homosexual. They saw housing me as an unfortunate obligation, rather than a duty, once I came out. All of my previous friends abandoned me after I came out as well. As you can imagine, things went badly for me after that.”

            Alyssa smiled at Annika and then said, “That explains the way you were looking at me before.”

            Annika blushed brightly and then, as the two of them began to walk through the bazaar, she apologetically replied, “Sorry?”

            Alyssa smiled over at the anxious looking Annika and then told her, “I am not really in the position to date anyone right now. However, I also think you are quite cute, if you must know.”

            Annika felt her heart soar for a brief moment at Alyssa’s implication of attraction to her, despite her rejecting anything immediate. She then blushed brightly, smiled warmly back at Alyssa and, changing the topic, said, “Why don’t we shop a bit and then retrieve your pack. We can get to know each other a bit better as we look around.”

            Alyssa nodded back at Annika and then replied, “Sounds good to me. I do enjoy your so far company, despite your lack of general faith. Of course, you have your reasons. Religion saved me, in a sense, even though it was detrimental to your life. I am still sorry about what you went through at that orphanage.”

            Annika simply replied, “Thank you for understanding. I am sorry that you were abducted and enslaved as a child.”

            Alyssa simply nodded and then finished, “It seems that we have a mutual understanding then, Annika.”

            Annika and Alyssa spent the afternoon shopping together. They each bought up some minor, valuable looking trinkets. Alyssa seemed to be looking for something, but she did not find whatever that was. After finishing up shopping, Alyssa retrieved her pack from the CAS base. Then, Annika and Alyssa headed to their dinner meeting.


	18. The Hierophant

            Annika and Alyssa arrived at the Creekside Tavern, as evening began to fall. Alyssa had retrieved her pack from the CAS base, after she had spent the afternoon with Annika engaging in some minor shopping. Upon their arrival, the two of them saw Annika’s four compatriots, Leo, Sapphire, Ryan and Drake waiting for them in front of the tavern’s door.

Leo said, “There you are, Annika. I see that you are back from showing Alyssa around town. Shall we go inside?”

Alyssa then added, “I will go and find my master inside. Hopefully he and Nero had no trouble getting inn rooms for the three of us. You five can wait for us near the reception desk.”

Annika nodded as Alyssa walked inside to go find Lucius. She then went over to go stand with comrades. Leo asked Annika, “So, how did showing Alyssa around town go?”

Annika smiled at Leo and then replied, “We had a nice time. We have somewhat unfortunate backstories in common, it turns out. The good news is that she said that she found me cute.”

Sapphire and Ryan looked a bit confused while Drake seemed to understand what was going on. Leo then said to Annika, “Why don’t we discuss this in more detail later? Suffice to say for now that I am happy you had a good time with your new acquaintance.”

At that point, Sapphire mentioned, “Leo told us all that the plan was to meet with this Hierophant Lucius at the tavern. I hope that he is indeed here.”

Ryan then added, “I am sure that if they could not get rooms at the tavern, they will be somewhere not far away. We do need to make sure that we can actually meet with our newest client, though.”

As Annika was acknowledging her friends’ concerns, Alyssa poked her head out of the door, she then said, “My master has come downstairs with Nero. We have been able to secure a table large enough for all eight of us at the restaurant. Please, come inside.”

Annika and her four teammates came inside, waving at Aubrey and Sam as they walked over to the restaurant portion of the tavern’s first floor.

Alyssa, who had stowed her pack upstairs, walked the CAS members over to a long wooden table on the far side of the tavern. Nero the Yanmega appeared to be keeping watch for a weathered-looking male Kabutops who had managed to lay out a map of the region over much of the table. Alyssa walked over to the Kabutops, briefly bowed to him, and then told him, “Master Lucius, I present to you the five members of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society.”

As Alyssa went over to take a seat next where Lucius was standing, Lucius looked over the five assembled CAS Pokémon and said, “Thank you, Alyssa. You serve me well, as always. You may all sit at the table opposite from Alyssa and I. Now, which of you is the one called Annika?”

Annika told Lucius, “That would be me. I am the leader of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society.”

Lucius nodded and then responded, “I just wanted to confirm that you were indeed a Sneasel, Annika. In exchange for your help, I do have something special I recently acquired that you will find very helpful.”

Annika asked, “I would like to know what this mystery item is. Alyssa mentioned it earlier. Of course, we will all need to be compensated for helping you stop this Reaver Cult in the Golden Forests.”

Lucius then told Alyssa, “I brought it down here. It is in my bag, which is on the floor. Pull it out so that our new associates can see it.”

Alyssa saluted Lucius and then dropped down from her seat. When she returned, she was carrying a dark-colored claw-shaped object.

Lucius then informed Annika, “This is a Razor Claw. If a Sneasel holds one of these objects during the night, they will evolve into a more advanced form known as Weavile. You can see why you might want one of these, Annika.”

Annika nodded and then said, “It is quite enticing. Anyway, why don’t we order food and then talk about the mission you want our assistance with?”

Lucius responded, as Alyssa put the Razor Claw away, “As you wish.”

The eight Pokémon all ordered their meals and then Lucius pointed to where the Golden Forests were marked on his map. He then began, “My sources and my own research all point to the Mystic Circle where the Incarnation of Life, Xerneas, was born being located in a clearing in the center of the Golden Forests. I know that most of you are probably not very familiar with the doctrine of my movement. However, what you all need to know for this mission is that my sect believes that the clearing at the center of the forests contains a sacred place. The Reavers of Yveltal and their Incineroar Leader, Templar Salen, also seem to see the clearing as the birthplace of their lord’s nemesis. We, the Acolytes of the Mystic Lands, are sworn to defend the Mystic Circles so that they can be preserved and eventually used for the benefit of all Pokémon. The main goal of our mission will be to defeat the Reaver Cultists and eliminate their leader. Then, my sect will be able to study the sight and map it out. The AML is willing to pay the five of you handsomely for helping us complete this assault successfully. Will you all agree to take on this mission?”

            The five CAS Pokémon all nodded yes in agreement and then Lucius continued, “I would like to set out tomorrow morning, I want to minimize the time that the Reavers have to possibly damage, or even destroy, the Mystic Circle. We should take about a day to reach the outskirts of the Golden Forests from what I have determined. The wild Pokémon in the forests will be more hostile than usual due to the Reavers’ recent intrusion into their territory. Therefore, we will have to be on alert for them on our way through the forests. Once we reach the forests, we will split up into two or three teams and then make our way inside, heading for the clearing. Hopefully, we will all converge on the clearing in close succession and be able to hit the cultists from multiple directions. The Incineroar Salen will be our main target, since he is the leader of this particular cult dedicated to Yveltal.”

            Annika then asked, “Alyssa mentioned your expedition having a fourth member, she called him Titus. Will he be with us in this assault?”

            Lucius responded, “Yes, but he will be in reserve. He will appear when he is needed, that I can promise you. Anyway, we will probably split up into three groups of around three, or two groups of around four, depending on what we want to do when we arrive at the forest. Any of the Yveltal cultists will probably attack any intruders who they find. They will be merciless in attempting to dispose of anyone who tries to wrest control of the circle from them, so you all are aware.”

            Annika then saw that their food had arrived and then said, “We are ready to help. We are not used to our enemies being merciful as it is.”

            Lucius nodded and then finished, “In that case, we will eat now and then meet up at the southern gate of this settlement tomorrow, in the mid-morning. Do we have a deal?”    

            Annika used one of her claws to carefully shake Lucius’s scythe-like “hand.” She then told her allies, “I will make sure to have Linda mon the office starting tomorrow morning.”

            Sapphire then said, “I can take care of that part. The rest of you should make sure that we are all packed to head out tomorrow morning.”

            The CAS members all agreed and then all eight Pokémon ate their dinners.

            The next morning, Annika and her comrades had taken care of packing their supplies for their newest mission. Sapphire had gone to alert Linda and then meet up with the others at the south gate. Ryan and Drake had picked up their packs and were also headed to the south gate. Leo and Annika had taken their packs last and were walking to the southern gate.

            Leo looked up at Annika, as they were reaching the center of town and then asked her, “So, what is going on with you and this Alyssa girl?”

            Annika blushed a bit, looked down at Leo, and then replied, “Well, I learned that she was once enslaved on another continent before she first met Lucius. It seems that, like me, she does not remember her parents. In terms of what is ‘going on’ with us, I admitted my homosexuality to her and then she realized that that explained some of my earlier behavior around her. Then, she said she was not currently free to date anyone, but she thinks that I am cute.”

            Leo then mentioned, “What concerns and interests me is that if you truly were human, then your natural attractions must have changed over from human women to some female Pokémon?”

            Annika nodded and then said, “Since my transformation, I have not felt any intense physical attraction toward anyone accept for Alyssa. I find her to be quite pretty and I also sincerely enjoy spending time with her.”

            Leo shrugged and then told Annika, “I will not get in your way. I have my own paws full with trying to get Sapphire to go out with me a third time. I think that she sincerely enjoyed our first two dates, but she has been reluctant to go out with me again.”

            Annika then replied, “I don’t think my getting together with Alyssa in the near future is that likely. She seems to be very devoted to Hierophant Lucius. She is also quite mentally wrapped up in the doctrines of the Acolytes of the Mystic Lands. Because I am focused on my own work as the leader of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society, and because I still dislike religion in general, I don’t think that Alyssa and I will be in close contact with each other again any time soon. That is, after we finish this mission.”

            Leo sighed and then told Annika, “You should try to spend what time you have left with her then. I guess that I am lucky that the one I love is someone who was used to spending time with me already. The good news is that if you could be interested in one girl here, then maybe you could find someone who lives in or nearby Creekside to get together with later on?”

            Annika sighed a bit, nodded her head no and said, “Maybe? I still would love to be able to keep Alyssa in my life. I really feel a connection with her, even though we just met.”

            As they kept walking, Leo finished the topic by saying, “Maybe once she evolves, you two could find each other again and… anyway, we still have to focus on the mission at hand. Let’s get to the southern gate of town.”

            Annika smiled and then said, “If we complete this mission and Lucius gives me the Razor Claw, then we will see if I can evolve.”

            Leo nodded and then told Annika, “You will always have us. Me, Sapphire, Ryan, Drake and even Linda. Please don’t forget that, ok?”

            Annika nodded and then told Leo, “Just as you all will always have me. You must remember that being turned into a Pokémon and sent here was the best thing that ever happened to me, from my perspective.”

            Leo nodded and then told Annika, “Drake sure must be happy you became a Pokémon, even if he does not know the truth. Without the CAS, he might still be stuck in that cave. And think about Linda, without the CAS, she might have become lunch for those wild Rockruff!”

            Annika nodded and then explained, “All part of the reason that I founded the CAS. I really do think that we are making this world a better place. …Well, we are at least making this region of this island a better place. That has to count for something?”

            Leo replied, as he grinned up at Annika, “Yes, it does. Also, we are enriching ourselves and the local economy in the process. It is a win-win!”

            Annika laughed at Leo and then said, “Whatever you say, buddy.”

            Leo then laughed. Soon after that, he fell silent and asked Annika, “In all seriousness, do you plan on telling the others the truth later?”

            Annika thought for a moment and then said, “Eventually I will. I just need to find the right time to tell Sapphire, Ryan, Drake and maybe Linda.”

            Leo simply nodded again and then the duo made their way to the southern gate of Creekside Town. When they arrived, they met up with the remaining active CAS members as well as Lucius, Nero and Alyssa. Lucius looked over the assembled Pokémon and then declared, “Everyone is here, excellent. Titus is not far away, so we should be good to go. We should reach the outskirts of the Golden Forests tomorrow morning at this rate.”

            Annika and Leo walked over to Sapphire, Drake and Ryan. Annika then said, “We are ready to move out now. This mission was your idea, so lead the way, Mr. Lucius.”

            Lucius nodded and then, with Nero and Alyssa alongside him, began the trek south down the open plains road to the Golden Forests.


	19. The Golden Forests

            The five members of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society spent the next day following Lucius, Alyssa and Nero of the Acolytes of the Mystic Lands south. They were all traveling to reach the Golden Forests, which were farther south from Creekside Town then the, previously visited, Gray Forests.

            Annika walked in the front of her group as Drake and Ryan kept circling the unit from the air. Nero seemed to be staying close to Lucius and merely hovering nearby one of his boss’s shoulders.

            When night began to fall, Lucius ordered the marching formation to make their camp. Annika decided to sit next to Alyssa as the eight Pokémon gathered around their campfire. Alyssa seemed to smile faintly as Annika sat down next to her.

            As the expedition members were eating some of their packed rations, Lucius recounted some stories of his searches for the various Mystic Circles. He believed that those circles were the places where the ancient deity Arceus had spawned his direct children, the Legendary Pokémon. He talked about a trip he had taken when he was younger, and newly evolved, to track down the birthplace of the sea goddess Kyogre, soon before founding the AML officially. He also mentioned trying in vain to find the volcanic Mystic Circle where the lava demigod Heatran had supposedly been born. He believed that the volcanic circle was somewhere deep within a volcano that was present on the island just south of his movement’s main camp.

            After hearing some stories, the group of Pokémon agreed that Ryan, Nero, Leo and Sapphire would divide up the nights’ watch rotations. Annika got the chance to talk with Alyssa for a short while after watches were decided on. After that, the two of them managed to have a few minutes after Ryan took his watch to stargaze together, before falling asleep close to each other, but not quite in each other’s arms.

            Annika woke up the next morning and then put her pack on. She then waited for the rest of her allies to all be wake up. Once everyone was awake, Lucius said, “I can easily see the forests from here. We should be there shortly. Once we arrive, we will pick our assault teams.”

            Annika nodded and then added, “I guess we will get moving then.”

            The expedition of Pokémon quickly reached the northern outskirts of the Golden Forests. Once they arrived, Lucius turned to Annika and asked her, “You are the leader of your group and I am the leader of mine. So, how would you suggest dividing up our total forces? I will be going with Nero. As strange as this must sound by now, Titus will not be far from where we are and will be able to accompany Nero and I.”

            Annika replied, “Leo, Sapphire and Ryan are all old friends. They could form a group together. I see around three easily navigable paths through the trees. So, maybe we should have one smaller unit follow each path?”

            Lucius thought for a quick moment. He then asked, “Ok, if we want a three-way even split, I can go with Nero and Titus, your three aforementioned allies can go together and that leaves… You, your Noibat friend and Alyssa, right?”

            Annika smiled and then pointed out, “This way, each group has one of our airborne Pokémon in it. You can take one side path. Leo, Sapphire and Ryan can take the middle path and I will take Drake and Alyssa and take the other side path.”

            Lucius began to nod and then chuckled, “You seem to have gotten attached to my young attendant recently. I even saw you two chatting last evening. Anyway, I trust that you and Drake can work with Alyssa for this incursion. I approve of your plan, Annika. Now, let us set out in to the forest. With any luck, we will all converge on the clearing by the end of the day.”

            Annika nodded and then returned to her four allies to tell them the plan. Lucius, with Nero following him, entered the forest first. Leo then led Sapphire and Ryan down the main path.

Annika then stood with Drake as Alyssa walked over to them and saluted Annika. Smiling, but trying to be serious, Alyssa said, “I am at your disposal for this mission, ma’am.” Alyssa then more quietly added, while grinning a bit, “It seems that you cannot get enough of me. I am honestly flattered that you are giving me so much attention.”

            As Drake took to the air and the trio began to walk into the forest, Annika replied to Alyssa, “I honestly enjoy your company. Also, I find you to be very cute, as you once said to me. Now, let’s get moving, we have a job to do here.”

            Alyssa blushed brightly and then nodded, saluting Annika again. She then offered, “I will take the front, I am best at fighting up close. I will have you know that I have been in more scuffles in my service to Lucius than you may think.”

            Annika nodded and then fell into place behind Alyssa. Drake focused on staying in the air just above them and scanning for possible threats as they entered the forest.

            Doing their best to head for the center of the woods, Annika, Alyssa and Drake walked deeper and deeper into the forested area. Annika could see why the place was called the Golden Forests, seeing as though the light-brown trees all had bright yellow leaves that could give off the illusion of looking gold plated at times. The trio saw a few wild Pokémon in the tree canopy, flying overhead and occasionally scampering across the ground. While the isolated wild Pokémon did not attack them, they all seemed to be on edge. They would look over at the trio even more nervously than Annika remembered the non-hostile wild Pokémon in the Gray Forests looking at them.

            As Alyssa led the trio deeper into the forests, the canopy began to block out somewhere more sunlight. The trio of adventurers soon came across a small clearing with a downed tree on one side of it. Alyssa said, “We should keep moving, this is obviously not the clearing that we are looking for.”

            As Annika was about to reply, two of the nearby trees began to rustle. A significant number of large seeds began to fall off of the trees, followed by two vaguely humanoid Pokémon who appeared to be wearing masks. The seeds then began to stand up on two feet and surround Annika and Alyssa. Drake shouted, “It’s an ambush! Those two Nuzleaf seem to be leading the horde of Seedot.”

            The Nuzleaf began to start firing off leafy daggers from their outstretched hands as their Seedot minions began to mob Annika and Alyssa. Annika grinned and said, “I think I know what to do here.” She began to furiously swing her claws into the Seedot, downing one after another as they tried to bombard her with their small, but hard, bodies.

Alyssa dodged a Seedot and then smacked him down with one of her paw-like fists. She then shouted, “I will go after the one of the leaders. Drake, I could use your help!”

Drake nodded, after having used his wings to dive-bomb knock out a number of the Seedot in one strike. He then flew towards the Nuzleaf farther away from Alyssa.

As the Nuzleaf focused their sniping attacks on Annika and Alyssa, Annika used a blast of Ice to weaken the Nuzleaf who Alyssa was fighting her way towards.

Drake meanwhile managed to close in on the other Nuzleaf and began pummeling her with his wings.

As for Alyssa, she jumped up into the air and used some of the advancing Seedot as stepping stones, kicking them down as she ran over them. She then performed a leaping attack on the weakened Nuzleaf and struck him palm-first. The Nuzleaf recoiled back and then punched Alyssa in the gut as hard as he could.

Alyssa, was still standing, however. She smiled and delivered a devastating counter punch to the Nuzleaf’s head, downing him.

Drake then pulled up from his foe as the Seedot rushed away from Annika to cover their remaining leader. This gave Annika an open shot to down the last Nuzleaf with a blast of super cold air.

Alyssa downed a few Seedot with basic strikes as Drake and Annika also hacked into the few remaining enemies. It was not long before the few Seedot left conscious turned tail and fell back to the shadows under the trees. Annika then declared, “We sure showed them. Good job everyone. That was a nice maneuver you pulled in order to reach that Nuzleaf, Alyssa.”

Alyssa blushed again as she said, “I needed to reach him, and so I did. I have learned to fight acrobatically during my time serving Lucius. He is very agile for his age. Now, we should keep moving. Those were probably just some wild Pokémon, not Reaver Cultists.”

Drake resumed his flight as Annika and Alyssa advanced beyond the clearing and farther into the woods.

            As Annika followed Alyssa farther into the Golden Forests, with Drake flying above them, she began to notice that the numbers of wild Pokémon in the area were starting to rapidly decrease. It was not long until they reached an area where the forest canopy became somewhat thicker and the wild Pokémon seemed unwilling to tread. Alyssa then said, “I think that we are getting closer. From what I know about cults dedicated to Yveltal, they are dangerous to all other Pokémon. If the Reavers have been able to secure their position in the central clearing, then the wild Pokémon in the area have probably all been forced to flee from the violent cult.”

            Annika then added, “We should do what we can to reach the clearing. From there, we should try to stay hidden and wait for our allies to arrive. Once we are all present, the full assault force should be able to attack the Reavers’ position and bring them down.”

            Drake then finished, “Ideally, we will prevent this Salen from escaping. If we can eliminate him, then any of his surviving followers will be leaderless. They even will possibly engage in an internal power struggle.”

            Annika and Alyssa both nodded and then the trio kept up their march.

            At one point, as the canopy began to get thinner, Drake said, “I think I hear something. It sounds like the beating of wings. At least three pairs of them. They are coming from in front of us.”

            Annika then said, “They are probably enemies. We will have to engage them here and prevent any of them from escaping to alert the cultists in the clearing.”

            Drake then said, “Here they come…”

            A unit of four Rufflet came flying through the trees, gracefully avoiding slamming into any of the branches or trunks in their way. Two of the Rufflet landed upon seeing Annika’s unit. One of them narrowly dodged a blast of frozen air from Annika as Drake moved to engage the airborne foes.

            Alyssa said, “I think I will try and fight off the ones who have landed. Annika, stay behind me and try to freeze them.” Annika nodded as Alyssa ran into action and delivered a palm-strike to a Rufflet, who recoiled back in pain.           

            Annika focused in on the Rufflet who Alyssa had injured and then downed him with an icy blast. Meanwhile, Drake used his wings to send a cone of high-pressure air outwards, which knocked the two flying Rufflet back into some trees.

            The surviving landed Rufflet stuck Alyssa in the shoulder with a blow from one of his wings. At the same time, the two flying Rufflet launched themselves at Drake and began to dogfight with him as he tried to hit them both with a blast of wind again.

            Alyssa used one of her counter-attack punches to knock the Rufflet she was fighting back a bit. Then, Annika lined him up and took him down with a blast of icy air.

            As that was happening, Drake was charged and struck by the two Rufflet, who then fled the scene. Alyssa shouted, “They realize they are outnumbered. We can’t let them get away!”

            Annika nodded and then downed a third Rufflet with a pulse of frozen air. Drake began to chase after the fourth as he fled out of Annika’s range. Annika then told Alyssa, “We better follow them from the ground. If I can find the final foe, I can take him down!”

            Alyssa nodded and then began sprinting in the direction that Drake had been seen going in. Annika followed close behind her.

            Soon after starting to chase Drake and his fleeing foe, Annika and Alyssa saw the tree canopy getting even thinner. They then heard a noise that sounded like a powerful gust of wind and saw the final Rufflet plummet to the ground. Annika then said, “I think that Drake got him...argh!”

            Annika had been sniped in the shoulder by a blast of fire akin to the kinds Leo used in battle. A female Torracat emerged from the trees and then said, “We may have lost our patrol, but they did their job by leading you to us. Templar Salen will be pleased with me.”

            A pair of small squid-like Pokémon, Inkay, emerged from the trees and then one of them advanced on Alyssa. The second one focused in her psychic energy and then blasted Alyssa with a wave of psychic force.

            Alyssa managed to strike the advancing Inkay with her palm. The strike affected her foe’s nervous system and he was paralyzed by the attack. Annika followed up by knocking out the paralyzed Inkay with a blast of frozen air.

            The Torracat then leapt over Alyssa and bit into Annika with burning fangs. Annika staggered back in pain, wondering where Drake had gone off to. Then, she saw Alyssa take another blast of psychic energy and fall to her hands and knees.

            Annika used a dark-energy claw to injure and distract her foe and then ran to the severely wounded Alyssa. The Torracat moved in as Annika tried to help Alyssa back up onto her feet.

            The remaining Inkay began to advance. As she reached where Annika was trying to protect the badly wounded Alyssa, Annika began to lash out at her foe with her claws. The Inkay staggered back, badly wounded, but still in the fight.

As Annika readied herself to protect Alyssa again, the Torracat jumped in behind her and bit into Annika’s upper body. Annika finally fell to her hands and knees and began to pass out. As she was reaching out for Alyssa, she saw the Inkay blast the fallen Riolu with a third and final blast of psychic energy. Alyssa collapsed fully to the ground. The last thing Annika thought before she lost consciousness was, “Please be alive, Alyssa my…”

Annika fainted.


	20. The Reavers

            When Annika began to stir, she felt both groggy and badly burnt. As she opened her eyes and her senses returned to her slowly, she realized that her claws were both bound behind her and covered by something. She then quickly realized that her upper arms were bound to her sides and that her legs were bound as well, even though she was standing upright. Annika heard a familiar female voice quietly saying, “Annika, wake up.”

            Annika looked over in the direction that the voice had come from and saw Alyssa, who was bound to a wooden pole not far from her. Like Annika, Alyssa’s hands were tied behind her pack, with her arms wrapped around her pole. Alyssa was also tied with ropes on her upper body and legs. Annika smiled at Alyssa and then said, “You are alive, I am so relieved. I was worried that that psychic attack had killed you. Do you have any idea where Drake is?”

            Alyssa sighed and nodded her head no, she then said, “I only just woke up as well. It seems that the cultists are engaging in some sort of chant nearby. I have seen only one Incineroar among them. I believe that he is the Templar Salen. The Torracat who led the unit that defeated us seems to be Salen’s second in command.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “Well, I hope that the other teams are ok and that they find this place soon. I would rather not stay a prisoner for long. Do they even know what is going on with our attack plan?”

            Alyssa replied, “I don’t think that they know what our attack plan is. They seem to not have set any more defenses up since you and I were captured. More importantly, we just have to hope that our friends and allies arrive before the cultists decide to sacrifice us to Yveltal.”

            Annika gulped and then said, “So, they took us alive because they wanted to formally sacrifice us. It seems like a horribly ignoble way to die…and not one I want to experience.”

            Alyssa simply replied, “Agreed. I do not want to let my master down… and I frankly value my own life enough that I simply don’t want to die. My faith is kind of ambivalent on what happens to a soul after death, anyway.”

            Annika then told Alyssa, “This will probably not make a difference, but if we are about to be sacrificed, then I will volunteer to go first. I was the leader of the group and I failed you and myself.”

            Alyssa looked surprised, she then said, “Annika, before we very possibly die, I want you to know that I consider myself very fortunate to have met you. I think that in another set of circumstances, we could have made a wonderful couple. You are a good Pokémon and if we survive this, I will consider myself bettered by having met you.”

            Annika blushed, the weight of her potentially impending death briefly lifted from her shoulders. At that point, the chanting died down a bit and seemed to be coming to a close.

            Annika noticed that the chanting had been led by an Incineroar, who then stood up to address the cult. Salen looked briefly over at his two captives. He then said, “My fellow devotees of the lord of death itself. Today, good fortune and the ‘hand’ of our lord and master, Yveltal have brought us two young prisoners. Soon, the two of them will depart this mortal world and their souls will fall under the control of Lord Yveltal, though our actions. I will personally see to it that they are both slain efficiently and painfully.”

            The Torracat then stepped up to say, “We have not gagged the sacrifices so that we may hear their cries of anguish and their pleas for mercy, which will not come from us. Templar Salen, might I personally sacrifice one of them for our master, Yveltal?”

            Salen nodded and then said, “Yes, my apprentice, you may choose one of our captives and snuff out her life. I will grant you the pleasure of the kill since you made sure to defeat and bring us these sacrifices.”

            The Torracat gave her boss a sickeningly evil grin and then bowed to him. Saying, “Thank you, my Templar. May the power of Yveltal guide me in sending a soul to his domain.”

            Salen simply nodded and then said, “We shall waste no more time. It is time for the sacrifices, now that the unholy chant has been finished.”

            Salen and his apprentice began to walk toward the defiant looking Annika and Alyssa. Annika shouted at the cultists, “We will not scream in agony for you! We will not beg you for our lives! You all are a bunch of…”

            Salen was about to respond, when the ground shook violently. Alyssa began to smile as the earth trembled beneath the clearing. At that point, Annika heard a familiar male voice shout, “They are distracted. Charge!”

            Annika then saw Leo, rush out from some trees to the north of her, Sapphire, Ryan and Drake followed him in. As the CAS Pokémon engaged a few of Salen’s cultists, the female Torracat screamed in pain as a male Steelix emerged from the ground from directly below her. The sudden attack sent her flying up into the air and then crashing into the ground.

            Salen then turned to face the new massive foe, who grinned down at him and boomed, “You shall not harm the attendant of the Hierophant!”

            The Steelix was then transformed by a powerful flash of light. Alyssa looked up and said, “Well, Titus has shown up now, and Mega-Evolved. This should be interesting.”

            Annika simply looked confused as she saw Nero coming out from some trees to help Ryan and Drake engage the Reavers’ remaining flying Pokémon.

            Salen blasted Titus with a large beam of fire, but the Mega-Steelix stood his ground. Titus then breathed a pulse of draconic energy into Salen, staggering him.

Annika felt her bonds being cut loose and then saw that Lucius had come in from behind them. Lucius freed Alyssa with one scythe-claw hack and then the two girls collapsed to the ground, still sore and wounded. Lucius then said, “I need to go deal with Salen. No one tries to murder Alyssa and gets away with it.”

As Titus dodged a second flame beam from Salen, Lucius came in from behind and conjured a series of rocks, which he then fired into Salen’s back. As Salen turned around, Titus struck him and his apprentice, who had just begun to stir, with a torrent of rocks from above.

Lucius watched the Torracat get crushed by Titus’s torrent of boulders and then said, “Titus, go help the others. I will finish the ‘Templar’ of this cult.”

Titus slid fully out of the ground and then took down the Inkay from before with another draconic blast from his mouth.

Annika saw that the Reavers were taking heavy losses as Sapphire bombarded them with her voice and Leo used flaming cartwheels to barrel into groups of cultists. Ryan, Drake and Nero had all but eliminated the airborne Reavers in the area.

As Salen tried to engage Lucius, he said, “I have heard of you. You want to stop us from ‘desecrating’ the birthplace of Xerneas.”

Lucius simply nodded and then responded, “Yes, foolish malcontent. You will pay with your life for your actions taken in this sacred circle!”

Salen rushed at Lucius, but he was blasted back by a high-pressure shot of water that Lucius had unleased. Salen fell to his knees and then Lucius walked over to him.

Annika had managed to haul herself to her feet and focus her energy enough to hurl a blast of frozen air into the thinning crowd of the Reavers. She then doubled over. Alyssa walked over to Annika and held her in her arms, saying, “Save your strength. It looks like we are winning now. We will be ok, Annika.”

Salen was now on the ground, doubled over in pain. Lucius walked over to him and planted a foot on his chest after rolling him over. As Titus began bombarding Salen’s, now retreating, minions with larges torrents of boulders, Salen said, “If I perish, my soul will go to Yveltal. My lord, I only wish I could have served you as a mortal for longer.”

Lucius then sighed, rolled his eyes and then his face took on a serious look. He then shouted, “Then go to your dark master!”

Lucius then impaled Salen’s head on the end of one of his scythe-claws, ending the Reavers’ leader once and for all.

The handful of Reavers who had survived the assault made a full retreat south. They were almost immediately dive-bombed by the expedition’s three flying Pokémon. Leo, Sapphire and Titus then quickly finished off the survivors of the airborne Pokémon’s attack.

            Annika smiled faintly as she saw that the Reavers had finally been wiped out. She then looked up at Alyssa, who was still cradling her. Annika smiled at Alyssa and then chuckled, “It looks like we are not going to die today, after all.”

            Alyssa smiled back at Annika and said, “Yeah, you are right.”

            At that point, Drake walked over to Annika and Alyssa and apologetically said, “I am sorry that I was unable to help you two avoid capture. I was engaged by a squadron of flying Reavers when Salen’s Torracat engaged you two. I decided that I would flee and lead the enemies chasing me into another unit. I did not see the Inkay and so I thought that you two could take the Torracat together. I managed to find Ryan, Leo and Sapphire and we took down the enemy flyers together. Then, we managed to find the clearing, where we saw that you two had been captured. We would have attacked earlier, but we knew that we would have a lot of trouble fighting all of those cultists without Lucius’s support. Thankfully, Titus, Lucius and Nero all showed up when they did.”

            Annika and Alyssa both nodded as Leo, Ryan and Sapphire walked over to them. Leo exclaimed, “Annika, we are so glad that you are alive! We would have tried to save you, even if the other AML members had not shown up when they did.”   

            Annika smiled over at Leo and Lucius walked over to the group. He then said, “The CAS has done its part here. Miss Annika, I will leave Nero and Titus to guard this site. I can see the patterns on the edges of the clearing that indicate its nature as a Mystic Circle. The rest of us will return to Creekside Town, where I will make sure that you are all paid for your efforts. Alyssa, I will leave the presenting of Annika with her Razor Claw to you. I will return to this place with Alyssa, after that, and we will study the site. Then, we will arrange for a few other AML members to watch over the circle for a bit, after we head back to our camp below Mount Flattop to the far north.”

            Alyssa nodded and then said, “I understand, master. We will set out once we are more rested.”

            Lucius nodded and then went over to talk with Nero and Titus.

            Annika and Alyssa stayed with each other for the rest of the day, recovering from their injuries. Their packs and supplies were recovered from the Reavers’ loot pile. They then fell asleep in each other’s arms that evening.

            The next morning, the five CAS Pokémon accompanied Alyssa and Lucius back to Creekside Town. Upon returning to Creekside, Lucius gave the CAS members their pay and Annika relieved Linda of her duty. Thankfully, no urgent job requests had come in while they had been away.

A couple of mornings after getting back home, Annika saw the front door to the CAS building opening. Alyssa walked inside and then presented Annika with the Razor Claw that she had been shown earlier.

            Alyssa then smiled at Annika and told her, “Lucius and I are heading back south today at noon. I was asked to bring this to you. You have earned it, as far as I am concerned.”

            Annika then walked around the desk and told Alyssa, “I will miss you. If you are ever in the area again, please do whatever you can to visit me. I am happy that I was able to meet you, Alyssa. You are an amazing Pokémon in my book.”

            Alyssa then embraced Annika and then told her, “If you are ever nearby Mount Flattop, come to the AML camp and see me. Hopefully I will be in when you visit. One of these days, maybe we will find a way to be in close proximity to each other more regularly?”

            Annika nodded and then replied, “I would most certainly hope so. Anyway, you should be going to your boss now. Goodbye, Alyssa.”

            Alyssa nodded and then smiled warmly at Annika, she then softly said, “I want to give you a personal present to remember me by.” Alyssa then gave Annika a passionate kiss on her lips. Both of them blushed brightly as they held their lips together for what felt like a whole minute.

            When the kiss ended, Annika smiled at Alyssa and told her, “Thank you. That was the best gift you could have given me.”

            Alyssa simply nodded and then told Annika, “Thank you. I fully intend to see you again, one of these days. With any luck, that will be far from our last kiss.” Alyssa then left the CAS base after hugging Annika one last time.

            Once Alyssa was gone Annika looked down at the Razor Claw, thinking that she would have to use it that evening. She also thought about the “hole” in her heart left by Alyssa’s exit. However, she also felt something rise within her. Annika thought, “Alyssa, I love you… and I will see you again. Our love will prevail!”

            Annika then took her seat behind the desk, still feeling both forlorn and determined.


	21. Evolution

            Annika was still sitting behind the desk of the CAS base a couple of hours after Alyssa had left. After being knocked unconscious and nearly murdered, Annika had a feeling that the CAS would possibly need to defer any potential new non-urgent jobs for the next few days.

            As Annika was thinking about how she would be able to deal with the sudden feelings of loss caused by Alyssa’s entrance and departure from her life, Ryan flew in through the skylight of the building. When he landed, he said, “Hello Annika, I see that you were given the Razor Claw after all. Lucius kept his promise, it seems.”

            Annika smiled vaguely and then replied, “Alyssa was here to deliver it earlier today. I am planning on trying to trigger it tonight.”

            Ryan looked over at Annika and then said, “You had a crush on her, didn’t you? From what I saw earlier, it seemed like she may have reciprocated your feelings.”

            Annika nodded and then corrected Ryan, “It’s not that I had a crush on her, it’s that I love her. She kissed me before she left. So, I think it is obvious that she likes me back. Anyway, what is up with you?”

            Ryan responded, “You should not give up on being with her, if you truly love her. Maybe it will work out one day. Think about how Leo has never given up on Sapphire and now they are about to have their third date. As for me… I am actually starting to wonder if Serena, my boss, thinks I’m cute? She is not actually that much older than I am. When I have been submitting my reports, and talking to her for other reasons… maybe we should not talk about romance right now?”

            Annika was surprised and a little amused at the possibility of Ryan dating his boss. However, she then focused herself and asked Ryan, “What do you know about something called Mega-Evolution? We saw Titus do it during the battle of the Golden Forests and Alyssa told me afterwards that it requires a special kind of stone used by a fully-evolved Pokémon.”

            Ryan nodded and then explained, “It is a process that only a few Pokémon can go through and it only lasts for the duration of a battle. I have heard that it can only occur in a compatible Pokémon who is combat. I think that if Alyssa becomes a Lucario, she will be able to Mega-Evolve. However, I don’t think we have yet recruited any Pokémon capable of undergoing the process. I should also mention that, now that you mention it, the cave we opened up for mining when we recruited Drake had some Mega-Stones in it.”

            Annika nodded and then replied, “Well, tonight I will hopefully undergo my own permanent evolution.”

            Ryan nodded and then told Annika, “Drake is working on beginning getting himself a house built near mine. However, he also wanted me to tell you that he is still very sorry for abandoning you and Alyssa to the cult members. We are all just glad that we were able to attack the enemy position before you and Alyssa could be murdered.”

            Annika nodded and then told Ryan, “To be honest, I told Alyssa that I would be willing to die first if they were about to kill us both. I acted like it was my responsibility as the leader of the group. However, I really just did not want to watch her die.”

            Ryan solemnly nodded and then responded, “Well, Annika, you must really care about Alyssa. I wish you good luck in pursuing her. When should we be ready to continue taking on jobs?”

            Annika thought for a moment and then said, “Let’s give it a few days. Maybe the day after tomorrow I will consider changing the sign to open and we will get back to work? We were paid pretty well by Lucius, so we should be financially secure for the time being.”

            Ryan saluted Annika with one of his wings and then took off through the skylight after saying, “I will alert the others, in that case.”

            After Ryan left, Annika sighed deeply, still missing Alyssa. She then decided to go out and get some lunch.

            Later that day, Drake had visited Annika at the CAS base. The pair went out for dinner that evening, where they talked about Annika’s feelings for Alyssa. Drake had pointed out that Annika was lucky, in a sense, since she at least had found a potential romantic partner. Drake explained that he had not yet found a boyfriend of his own in Creekside, even though he was not willing to give up yet. Drake also urged Annika to not give up on Alyssa, understanding what Annika was feeling.

            That night, Annika stepped outside of the CAS headquarters and took the Razor Claw out a small bag. She then said, “Well, by the time I see you again, Alyssa, I will not be the same. I just hope this works. Hopefully my former humanity does not get in the way here.”

            Annika held up the Razor Claw and then she felt an indescribable surge of energy in her body. She felt herself getting taller and stronger. She also felt an ornate crest growing atop her head and a flexible frill growing out of her neck. Strangest of all, a third clawed finger was growing out of both of her hands. Annika evolved from Sneasel to Weavile.

When Annika’s body stopped growing, she noticed that the Razor Claw had become consumed. After stretching out for a moment, she walked over to the nearby docks and looked at herself in the water of Suicune’s River. Smiling, she said aloud, “I look fancy.”

            Annika then walked herself back to the CAS base, getting used to her taller body and making sure not to bump her head crest on the top arch of the doorway. Annika then went to bed, doing her best not to think about Alyssa.

            The next morning, Annika got out of bed and then ate some breakfast. She then wondered to herself if she should head out to show her friends her new form. Another thought that crossed her mind was whether or not she should inform Sapphire, Ryan and Drake of her former humanity any time soon.

            As Annika was thinking about what her next move should be, she saw the door to the CAS base opening up. Leo and Sapphire walked inside and then up to the desk. Leo then said to Annika, “You look quite…ornate, Annika. It seems that… the Razor Claw Lucius gave you was genuine after all.”

            Annika nodded and then Sapphire asked, “When do we expect to begin taking jobs again? I also remember that we were planning on getting Linda some training at some point, so that she can join the CAS as an active member.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “I thought Ryan had told you two the answer to your first question. I still need a bit of time to get over both my injuries and to be able to put Alyssa in the back of my mind. In case you two had not heard, we kissed before she left with Lucius. I think that I love her and I miss her already.”

            Sapphire gave Annika a sympathetic look and then told her, “I am sorry that when you fell in love, it was with someone you cannot easily stay close to. I am sure that you will see her again. I am always up for exploration and visiting new places. So, if we get a chance to get close to Mount Flattop in the near future, I will go with you.”

            Leo then added, “If Sapphire is going, then I am going as well. I would not let my love go on an expedition without me!”

            Sapphire blushed brightly as Annika chuckled a bit and then said, “You two are great, you know that? Anyway, we should get back to doing some work in the next couple of days. Why don’t we all convene at this location in two days in the morning. I will change the sign to the open position tomorrow morning, so that we will appear open for business to anyone who wants to hire us.”

            Leo and Sapphire both nodded and then Sapphire told Annika, “We will make sure to alert both Ryan and Drake of the new plan by tomorrow.”

            Leo then said to Annika, “You should not give up on being with Alyssa. I think that you two looked cute together, honestly. If there is anything I have learned in life, it’s that you should not give up on love… as long as you are not being creepy about it.”

            Sapphire and Annika laughed a bit as Leo finished up his statement. Then, the three Pokémon decided to head out for lunch.

            The next day, the CAS received a couple of job requests, once their sign had been changed back to the open position. Annika had been spending her free time making new bark carvings using her newly-enhanced claws. Of course, she had been free to personally write down the new job requests made by local Pokémon and visiting merchants.

            After organizing their new job requests, the CAS members went out on a few, relatively routine, local missions. Linda was brought back in to mon the office when the five active members were out. Annika told her that they were still looking for a good opportunity to begin training her for active membership, but that it was a high priority for them.  

            One day, around a week from opening up the office again, Annika had just returned to base from a job escorting a trade caravan from the southern coast in to town after meeting up with it just north of the Golden Forests. She found Linda sitting behind the desk, as usual. Linda said, “Hey, Annika. While you and the other four were out, someone came in wanting to talk to you.”

            Annika quickly asked, “Were they a Riolu?”

            Linda nodded no and then said, “I have not seen this sort of Pokémon before. She did not leave her name, but she said that she wanted to speak with you and that she would try again later. I think that if she had wanted to leave a job request, she would have asked me to write it down.”

            Annika looked confused and then asked, “What did this visitor look like?”

            Linda replied, “She was a quadrupedal Pokémon with white fur and a black face. There was a blade-like structure coming off of her head. I think that she had reddish eyes. She was wearing a necklace with a rounded stone on it. When she came in the door, I was looking down and doing some reading, so I did not notice her until she was right next to me.”

            Annika then said, “She sounds stealthy. I will admit that I also have never met a Pokémon who looks like that.”

            Linda nodded and then got up to leave the desk to Annika, saying, “I hope that you can find out what she wants. She did not seem mean or unpleasant, just a bit odd.”

            Annika nodded and then took over the desk from Linda. She then said, “One day soon, we will find the time to start preparing you for active duty, ok?”

            Linda turned around and then told Annika, “I know. Don’t worry, I trust you guys. I do want to evolve into a Togetic like my mother. I think that it would be nice to able to fly.”

            Annika smiled back at Linda and then said, “That would mean that half of the current CAS members could fly. That would probably be very helpful for us.”

            As Annika went to go find her latest carving project to return to working on it, Linda smiled back at her and then left the building.

            Later that evening, Annika had gone out to eat dinner by herself and was walking back to the CAS headquarters by herself. She was hoping to herself that the CAS would receive another large contract relatively soon, as she neared her home. There were not many other Pokémon on the streets and it was dark out.

            Once Annika reached the CAS base, she opened the front door and heard a female voice she did not recognize saying, “Hello, you must be Annika.”

            Annika whirled around and began to look for whoever had spoken to her. She then turned back to the open door and saw that a Pokémon matching Linda’s description had appeared right next to her.

            Annika staggered back a bit as the female calmly said, “As you can see, I can be quite hard to detect. Especially in the shadows.”

            Annika nodded and then asked the mysterious Pokémon, “Who are you? What are you? What do you want?”

            The new arrival simply smiled at Annika and said, “It will begin raining soon, we should talk inside. I mean you no harm, that I can assure you.”

            Annika nodded and then invited the new arrival inside the CAS base. She then followed her mysterious new acquaintance inside, keeping her eyes on the sleek quadrupedal Pokémon the whole time.

            Annika then folded her arms and asked, once they were both inside the CAS base, “I let you in. Can you answer my questions now?”                   

            The new visitor rapidly answered, “My name is Marcia, but you can call my Marcy. I am what’s called an Absol and I am here to inquire about joining up with your society of adventurers. I thought that I would demonstrate one of my most useful skills for you before talking with you face to face, since you were not in earlier today.”

            Annika then replied, “Ok, Marcy, I am not sure how or why you predicted that rain was going to fall…”

            Annika then heard the “Boom!” of thunder and the sprinkling of rain outside as Marcy smiled. She then looked confused and continued, “Ok, assuming you did not just make a lucky guess, it sounds like you have a second useful talent. Anyway, can you come back here tomorrow a bit before noon. Hopefully I can assemble all five current members of the CAS and we can interview you together.”

            Marcy simply nodded and then said, “I will take my leave then. I will see you tomorrow morning.”

Marcy darted out the door before Annika could offer to let her stay to wait out the rain. When Annika looked out of a window, she could not see Marcy anywhere nearby.

            Soon after Marcy left, Annika went to sleep. As she closed her eyes, she wondered what to make of her strange new acquaintance.


	22. Marcy

            The next morning, Annika had woken up, eaten breakfast and met with Drake, who had come in to check on her. Annika had asked Drake to go and locate the other three active members of the Creekside adventurers’ Society. It was not long after that that all five active CAS members were assembled in their base of operations.

            Annika began the morning meeting by saying, “Marcy the Absol, who I encountered last night wants to join us. I have not yet asked her about her background, or been able to assess her combat skills, However, she seems to be an expert at both hiding from view and moving silently. Her skills at stealth could come in handy. Also, she seems to be capable of detecting changing weather patterns? She was able to predict a thunder storm last night before it began, at least it seemed that way. Lastly, I noticed what looked to be a Mega-Stone on the necklace she keeps around her neck.”

            Drake then spoke up, saying, “I have heard about the Absol Species before. My parents told ne stories of them when I was young. In the distant past, Absol were hunted down and chased into the deep wilderness by both humans and Pokémon due to a belief that natural disasters were caused by their presence. However, in more recent years many have realized that Absol simply are attuned with the world in such a way that they can predict weather changes and even natural disasters. Many Absol try to use their unique talent to help others survive natural disasters by warning them long before the event happens. That way, the beings in the affected area can prepare barriers and shelters, or just evacuate the area.”

            Sapphire asked, “I wonder why this Marcy was so indirect in contacting us? She should have left her name with Linda, or walked up to you in the street rather than being so sneaky.”

            Ryan shrugged and responded, “Maybe that is how she is? It is possible that she is just used to secretive behavior. Also, she probably wanted to show Annika her capabilities.”

            Leo added, “I would think that if I wanted to join a group, I would want them to see me as potentially useful. Maybe she thought that we have run into all sorts of odd characters in our line of work and therefore, we would not be that freaked out by her odd behavior?”

            Annika then finished, “Anyway, when she arrives, we will question her as to why she wants to join us and then make a decision as to whether or not to hire her.”

            Leo then pointed out, “If we hire yet another member, we will be closer to being able to send out multiple groups of Pokémon at once, especially if Linda gets trained. We should be careful of allowing groups of our Pokémon that are too large go out on one mission. We don’t want to have to split the pay too many ways. We also don’t want to scare any possible clients away from being able to hire us due to our total rates being too high.”

            Annika nodded, knowing that Leo had a point. She then said, “She should be here soon before noon. We should not have to wait for too long for her to show up.”

            At that point, there was a knock at the front door. Drake opened the door and then the whole group of Pokémon saw Marcy standing there. Annika gave Marcy a look and then asked, “You are here a bit early, not…”

            Marcy walked inside and then interjected, “I was waiting outside and listening to your conversation through an open window. I decided to enter once you said that it would not take too long for me to show up.”

            Annika then nodded and told Marcy, “In order for us to feel safe in hiring you, we would like to tell us why you want to become a member of the CAS. Also, we would like to know about your background and how you heard of us?”

            Ryan then added, “You may have to obtain Creekside citizenship into to work for us. But we will keep that off for now. The local government approves of us, so that should not be a problem.”

            Marcy simply replied to Ryan, “You would know since, if I am correct, you are the local authorities’ liaison to the CAS.”

            Ryan looked a bit taken aback as Annika noted out loud, “It seems that you are also good at gathering information, Marcy. Now, how did you learn about us and why do want to join us?”

            Marcy’s face took on a more serious look as she said, “Very well, no more messing around…. I will have to start from the beginning, even though it is painful for me to recount it. You see, I was once an adventurer from a small town to the far south of here, but still north of the southern coast. When our local community was menaced, the duo I was one half of made an effort to end the depredations on the region. I had always been a bit of an outcast, since plenty of locals still did not trust members of my species. But there was one who I could always count on, he was named Sparks and was an Ampharos. He acted as a literal and metaphorical beacon of hope in my life and the lives of others. Sparks and I formed a duo of local adventurers and did our best to protect our small community.”

            Sapphire then interjected, “So, you have experience in adventuring? Why have you come here then?”

            Marcy sighed and then continued, “I am getting there, one fateful day, Sparks had planned an attack that would hopefully drive away the Pokémon who had been troubling our village. However, the force of Pokémon that he led was running right into a trap. I had been assigned to scout ahead, as I often did. By the time I discovered that the enemy was ready for the charge, I had been spotted. I had to fight my way back to Sparks and the others, using my Mega-Evolution to keep myself going for as long as I could. By the time I reached Sparks and the others, our force had been surprised-attacked, flanked and destroyed. I saw Sparks severely wounded, when I ran to him, he saw that I was also severely injured. He then told me to hide.”

            Annika then sighed deeply and guessed, “He did not make it, did he? Why did he choose to save you even if it gave him less of a fighting chance?”

            Marcy looked Annika in her eyes and said, “We were lovers, actually. He saved me because he loved me. As I hid from view, I saw him brutally murdered by a monstrous Pokémon. Sparks put up quite a fight, but he was outnumbered and taken down by our enemies.”

            Drake then asked, “Who did this? Who destroyed your home and slew your lover? Do you want us to help you to avenge your fallen love? Is that why you came here to us?”

            Marcy gave an extremely awkward smile, and then finished, “Sparks’ murderer is dead now. He was known as Templar Salen of the Reaver Cult. You see, it was the Reavers who destroyed my home and killed my lover, before occupying the Golden Forests. I spent months trying to find a way to avenge my love and stop the reavers from taking more lives. By the time that I returned to the Creekside area, your group had helped defeat the Reavers and kill Salen. After learning of your victory via eavesdropping on conversations in the area, I decided that I could resume my adventuring career and honor the memory of the fallen Sparks best by trying to join your society. I would want to be paid for my services, as well. However, I think that I could be an asset to your team, if you would allow me. Also, I have missed the company of other Pokémon over the last few months, to be honest.”

            Annika told Marcy, “Well, thank you for being so candid with us. Your story makes sense now that you have explained that the Reavers were the group behind your past suffering. Now, I must ask you to actually leave us and stand outside for a short bit. We will send someone outside to call you back in once we have made a hiring decision.”

            Marcy nodded yes and then said, “I will not eavesdrop on you this time. Take as much time as you need.” Marcy spun around and walked out the door, which Drake then closed behind her.

            Annika then said to her allies, once they gave Marcy a few moments to leave the area, “After hearing her story, I think that we should allow her to join up with us. She has lost both her home and someone who she was in love with. I know what it is like to have no one, so I simply don’t think I can turn her away.”

            Ryan then added, “I think that it is moderately odd that after setting up our initial team and hiring Linda as our secretary, we have only encountered potential members who have no one else left in their lives.”

            Drake then mentioned, “Marcy’s pre-CAS story is different than mine. I had a family and I chose to leave them willingly. They rejected me due to my sexuality. Marcy had to watch someone that she loved get murdered. We know that Salen was ready and willing to kill his fellow Pokémon, so it would make sense that he murdered someone who had been leading the opposition to his cult in an area.”

            Sapphire asked, “I wonder if she knows that our mission to destroy the Reavers was commissioned by the AML? Maybe we should be honest with her in case she has not figured that part out yet?”

            Ryan responded, “She probably already knows that, based on how good she clearly is at gathering information. Maybe she does not want to join the AML because she wants to adventure actively again? Also, she might not be all that religious and that may make her not want to join the AML?”

            Leo then added, “I am fine with adding her to our organization as long as she both pulls her weight and our increasing numbers, at minimum, do not hurt our profitability significantly.”

            Annika then nodded and concluded, “I think that we will use her staying period of one week as a trial period for her. Why don’t we hire her for the time being and see how effective she is as a CAS member? I still would hate to turn her away, considering all that she has been through.”

            Drake nodded and opened the door. He then called out, “Marcy, you may come back in now.”

            Marcy had not been standing too far away, she walked back into the building and then asked, “So, what do you all think?”

            Annika replied, “We are willing to hire you on as an active member for now. You will be called before the local leader, Patrician Marius, in about a week. So, we can use that week as a trial period for you. You will be entitled to full pay on whatever missions you participate in during that trial period regardless of the outcome. Do you agree to those terms?”

            Marcy nodded and then said, “Yes, I do agree. I will see if I can use my limited remaining funds to find a place to stay for the week. Thank you for the opportunity, I will do my best.”

            Leo then mentioned to Marcy, “If you are willing to pay a bit of rent, then I could let you stay in my guest room. It is empty now that Annika has been out of it for quite some time.”

            Marcy nodded at Leo, as Sapphire smiled and added, “Leo is madly in love with me, so do not consider his offer anything more than basic generosity on his part.”

            Leo blushed and then smiled at Sapphire, as Marcy looked over at both of them and said nothing. Annika then said, “Welcome aboard, Marcy. If you are staying with Leo, then that will make it easier for us to reach you when a mission comes up.”

            Marcy nodded again and then said, “I accept your offer of hospitality, Leo. Thank you again. You all are quite generous.”

            Annika then said, “Sapphire, can you take Marcy to Leo’s house. I need to speak with Leo in private for a moment. Ryan, Drake you are dismissed.”

            Leo looked slightly confused, but the rest of the CAS members all left the building. Sapphire led Marcy south as Ryan and Drake flew up and out of the skylight.

            Annika and Leo were now left alone in the CAS base.


	23. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that the tabbing issues keep coming back. Also, in good news, it looks like my combined six stories have now reached a total of 1,400 hits! Thank you all for reading, of course.

            Annika was standing in the CAS base alone with Leo, who asked her, “So, Annika, what did you want to speak with me about?”

            Annika sighed briefly and then told Leo, “I am wondering if I should be honest with the other CAS members about my former humanity. It is a phase of my life that I want to put behind me, even though I still don’t know who transformed me into a Pokémon. However, I feel that our friends and allies should know about what I was in the past. I hate being so dishonest with them, pretending to have always been what I am now.”

            Leo was quick to respond, “If you are willing to share your secret with the other CAS members, I am not sure about you telling Marcy. I just do not know whether or not she is fully trustworthy yet. Even if I am willing to rent out my guest room to her, that is. Also, regardless of who you tell, you will need to make sure that they are all sworn to secrecy. We will have to convince Ryan that he should not report your former identity to the local government. I am worried for you, Annika. You will probably be putting yourself at risk of broader discovery if you admit who you were to the rest of the organization.”

            Annika thought Leo’s advice over for a moment and then said to him, “I think that I am ok with contriving a reason for Marcy to be absent when I tell the others. She does not even know that I am a homosexual yet, anyway. However, I want Sapphire, Drake and Ryan to know the truth about me. I appreciate your advice Leo, but tomorrow I want to tell the others the truth.”

            Leo simply nodded and then suggested, “We could ask Marcy to accompany and supervise Linda on a supply run in town. That should be enough to get her out of the way. Hopefully, that will last long enough for you to tell our other members and see how they react.”

            Annika nodded and then finished, “Leo, I would like you to make sure that all of our members. Including Linda, are here tomorrow morning. Then, we will give Marcy her ‘first assignment.’ We will have to see what Sapphire, Ryan and Drake say?”

            Leo nodded and then left Annika alone in the building. As Annika got one of her carving boards out, she thought, “I can’t lie to my friends any longer. I just hope that my faith in them is well placed.”

            The next morning, every CAS member had shown up at the organization’s base. Annika had told Marcy that she was being given a basic assignment to take care of before they took on any more job requests. Linda seemed moderately nervous to be going out with Marcy, but she followed her orders and took the short list of items that Annika gave her to be obtained from Creekside Town’s markets. The items included an extra chair and some food and other basic supplies.

            Once Linda and Marcy had left the building, Sapphire asked, “Well, they are gone, but we don’t have any current job requests. Annika, why did you give Marcy that task? It does not seem like a very substantial test for her.”

            Annika folded her arms and then replied, “There is something important I need to tell all of you, except for Leo, who already knows.”

            Sapphire looked worriedly over at Leo who looked nervous and said nothing. She then asked, “Annika, what do you have to tell us that Leo already knows?”

            Ryan thought for a moment and then suggested, “I think that she wants to tell us something about either her former life before coming to Creekside, or how she was able to get close to town without being spotted by the Scouts until she fell asleep under that tree?”

            Drake did not appear to have any thoughts on the subject of what Annika was about to tell the group. He simply asked, “Well, what do you want to tell us, Annika?”

            Annika sighed and then said, “Before I woke up on the plains to the south of Creekside Town, I had no memories of living in this world. However, everything I told you all about living in a religiously-run orphanage without any friends was also true.”

            Sapphire immediately asked, “How is that possible? Are you telling us that you grew up in another world and were somehow transported here?”

            Annika then continued, “When I was in the orphanage, I hated religion, but I still prayed to whoever or whatever would listen. I repeatedly asked for them to remove me from my horrible situation. In the end, I was sent here. I woke up one morning, with Leo next to me, transformed into a Sneasel.”

            Drake then asked, “So, you claim that you were transformed into a Sneasel, what species of Pokémon were you before?”

            Annika sighed and then finished, “I was never a Pokémon until my prayers were answered and I was sent to this world. I was born and abandoned as a human girl. Whoever sent me here turned me into a Pokémon. I know that I may sound insane now, but you all need to trust that these are my memories. I am sorry that I withheld this information from you all for so long. I was not sure what you three would think, but I decided to take the risk and be honest with you all.”

            Sapphire was still in a state of confusion, Leo then told her, “I am sorry, that I did not tell you myself, Sapphire. I was trying to protect Annika. I did not want anyone else to know the truth because I was afraid that she would be declared insane and locked up somewhere if she got found out by the broader Creekside community.”

            Sapphire nodded and then asked Annika, “This raises a few questions. One of the big ones is why are you attracted to Alyssa when you were supposedly once human? Also, did you tell her of your former humanity?”

            Annika replied, “I guess that, even if it took a little while, my attractions switched over as well. I felt a strong attraction to Alyssa from the moment I saw her, to be honest. I am just glad that I got to have a new body that is basically humanoid in shape. Also, I have not yet told Alyssa the truth. However, seeing as though I love her, I will tell her in due time when I see her again.”

            Drake then looked over the room and said, “As crazy as her story sounds, I still owe a lot to Annika. I am grateful that she came to our world. I will continue to both stand by my leader’s side and serve the CAS, regardless of who Annika might have been in her past.”

            Sapphire then added, “This explains the time that Annika asked me to tell her about the humans of this world. As crazy as it all sounds, it kind of make sense. Annika, I am sorry that you felt like you had to hide this from us. Leo, I understand why you did not want anyone else to know the truth about Annika. I am sure that we can all keep Annika’s secret, right?”

            Ryan then said, “I guess we will have to. I don’t know what the local authorities would think if they heard this? However, as much as I hate to say it, Annika is worth me not reporting this particular bit of information to my boss. This at least explains how she was not seen by earlier Scout patrols that fateful morning. Annika, I think we are all happy that you are here. We will keep your secret, as you and Leo have clearly been doing for quite a long time.”

            Annika and Leo both breathed sighs of relief and then Sapphire said, “We will keep supporting you, Annika. You are both our friend and our leader.”

            Annika then looked around at the four other CAS Pokémon and then fell to her knees. As tears welled up in her eyes, she said to her comrades, “This…this is why I am here. Where I was raised, no one had treated me with kindness in years. Thank you all. I don’t know where I would be without with you guys!”

            The members of the CAS neared Annika and then the team of five Pokémon shared a large group hug. As the hug began to break up after a few moments, Leo said, “I think that this whole thing went about as well as it possibly could have. Now, I wonder when you will tell Marcy and Linda, Annika?”

            Annika did her best to dry the tears from her eyes, as she said, “I will probably tell Linda when she becomes an active member. As for Marcy, we will have to see what happens with her.”

            Leo nodded and then the CAS members waited for Linda and Marcy to return. Thankfully, it was not long until Linda and Marcy returned with the supplies that Annika had requested them to bring.

            Over the next few days the CAS, including their new member Marcy, undertook more minor jobs around Creekside Town. Marcy proved her combat effectiveness in the frontline of the group during a couple of skirmishes they engaged in during the course of their missions. It was not long after her recruitment to the CAS until Marcy was called before Patrician Marius.

            Annika was awaiting Marcy’s return from her citizenship hearing, while sitting at the desk of the CAS base. As she was working on one of her newest carvings, she noticed the unlocked front door creaking open. Annika quickly put away her work and then saw that the Pokémon coming in the door was not someone she recognized. She was pretty sure that the Pokémon was a male Kadabra.

The new visitor walked up to Annika and then asked her, “This is the Creekside Adventurers’ Society, right?”

Annika simply nodded and told him, “Yes sir. My name is Annika. I am the head of the society. How can I help you?”

The Kadabra responded, “My name is Jian, I am the assistant to the Alakazam researcher Shen. My boss and I have worked for the Intercontinental Mining Corporation on many occasions. IMC representative Horton told us of your organization’s skill and effectiveness. We have come here on our way up north with the intention of hiring your society to provide security on a major expedition the two of us are planning.”

Annika nodded and then asked, “Ok, it seems word of our achievements really has spread. Where are you two planning on going on this expedition?”

Jian continued, “We want to survey this island’s volcano, which is just south of the taller Mount Flattop. We would like to be able to discern, as best as we can, how likely the volcano is to erupt anytime soon. We are planning to meet up with some IMC Pokémon at a village just north of the volcano after we have completed our survey. Your job will be to escort me, my boss and our equipment to the volcano and then up to its crater. From there, we will survey the volcano. Then, you will escort us the short distance to the village where we will turn in our report. We will no longer need your services once we reach that destination, you will all be paid when we turn the report in. From what contact I have made with the IMC, they are willing to mostly fund this survey, as they also want to know the condition of the Volcano. You have worked with the IMC before, so you should know that they are good to pay you all for your efforts. So, what do you say? Can we hire your society to escort us to the north?”

Annika replied, “This might be our biggest contract yet. It would require us to be away from town for quite a long time. However, there is someone I would really like to visit near Mount Flattop. I think that we will probably take on your request. However, I need to consult with my members before we leave. We will probably need to leave at least one active CAS member at our base while we are away. Thankfully, we have a new recruit… so we can more easily afford to leave one of us behind. The question is, who will that be?”

Jian nodded and then said, “Shen and I will be staying at the renowned Creekside Tavern Inn for the time being. Come and see us there once you have your end of things planned out and we will leave soon after that.

Annika nodded and then Jian left.

As soon as Jian was gone, Annika raced out the door to begin tracking down her comrades. She then saw Marcy coming down street and remembered that she had been meeting with Marius. Annika walked over to Marcy and asked, “How did your meeting go?”

Marcy smiled at Annika and said, “The CAS seems to have become highly-valued around here. I was given citizenship with little trouble. Where are you headed?”

Annika then told Marcy, “Follow me, we need to get all of our members together for a meeting. We have been handed what could be our biggest contract yet!”

Marcy nodded and then she followed Annika south through town, as they went to go locate their four CAS comrades.


	24. Preparing for the Expedition

            Annika and Marcy had managed to, relatively quickly, find and collect Leo and Sapphire, both of whom had been at Leo’s house when they found them. After that, the four Pokémon had been able to locate Ryan and Drake, who were frequently in each other’s company.

All six members of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society soon found themselves in their base, where Annika explained to them, “Ok, everyone, while Marcy was at her citizenship confirmation meeting, I came into contact with a Kadabra named Jian. He told me that he was contacting me on behalf of his boss, an Alakazam researcher named Shen. Apparently, Shen is planning to study this islands’ volcano to see how likely it is to erupt soon. The study is being mostly funded by the Intercontinental Mining Corporation. Jian wants to contract us to escort himself and Shen all the way north to the volcano, up to the volcano’s crater and from there to a town just to the south of Mount Flattop. Once we reach that town, we will meet with IMC representatives who will pay us for our work. From there, I assume we will return to Creekside.”

Sapphire then asked Annika, “I was wondering, Annika, are you interested in taking on this job because it would possibly give you a chance to see Alyssa at the AML camp, which should not be far from the village we are going to?”

Annika blushed and then replied, “To be honest, yes. I have bought Alyssa a present recently and I want to present it to her in person. I also just want to spend some time with her again.”

Marcy then asked, “I have heard the name ‘Alyssa’ mentioned a few times around here. Who exactly is she?”

Annika was quick to reply, “Alyssa is the attendant of the Hierophant Lucius, the leader of the Acolytes of the Mystic Lands. I met her when the AML contracted us to help them put a stop to Salen and the Reavers in the Golden Forests. I feel in love with her very quickly after we met. Since she kissed me before we parted, after all that we went through in the forests, I believe that she reciprocates my feelings of love. Just being able to spend another day with her would be amazing for me.”

Marcy nodded and then told Annika, “I would never want to get in the way of someone being with their love. As for visiting the AML encampment… I would like to meet with the Hierophant Lucius myself, seeing as though it was apparently him that ended the worthless life of Templar Salen.”

As Annika nodded, Ryan added, “If we are heading north, we will have to be wary of any possible attacks by the Legendary Bird Articuno. She has still been sighted in that area on occasion.”

Annika then said, “Here is the problem, I think that we both should and can afford to leave one of our members back here at our base. We not should only have Linda running our headquarters for what could be a month-long expedition. Also, I want whoever stays behind to begin Linda’s training. I want to keep my promise to her to have her join the CAS as our seventh member full-time at some point.”

Leo then asked, “Who is going to stay behind, then?”

Ryan pointed out, “I am afraid that as the official Liaison between the CAS and the Creekside Town government, I must insist on going on this mission. Having at least one flyer with you will be important anyway.”

Annika then said, “Because it seems that Marcy has an innate ability to predict natural disasters, I think we basically have to bring her on this trip. Besides, she has not been a part of any of our major missions yet.”

Leo then said, “If Sapphire is staying here, then I am staying here. If she is going on the mission, then I am going.”

Sapphire then added, “I would like to go on this mission, actually. It would be nice to see the northern segment of the island for myself. I did join the CAS seeking to explore more of the world, anyway.”

Annika nodded and then looked over to Drake, saying, “That leaves you. I am sorry, but I think that you will be in charge of running the base and training Linda while we are away on our expedition.”

Drake seemed to be thinking things over for a moment, he then said, “Someone had to do it. I will give Linda the best training that I can give and that she can take. We will try to have her ready for action, or at least well on her way there, by the time you five return from the expedition. I will also do my best to catalogue non-urgent jobs that come in and try to take care of any urgent ones that do, possibly with Linda’s help.”

Annika smiled at Drake and then saluted him. She then said, “It seems that we have an understanding, in that case. Anyway, we should spend the rest of the day packing as much as we can for our upcoming expedition. Tomorrow, we will go to meet with Jian and Shen and tell them that we accept their contact and will accompany them on the road north to the volcano.”

Drake then added, “I will go find Linda and inform her of our plan. Good luck to all of you. I hope, of course, that you all get back here safely with the mission completed.”

Ryan then said, “I will go to inform Serena that I will be gone for an indeterminate amount of time. I want her to know that I am doing my duty by going on this expedition with the rest of you. Drake, good luck staying here and keeping our operation running, buddy. Hopefully, Linda is not too hard to train. She seems willing enough, I will say that.”

            Annika nodded and then told Drake, “Just don’t be too hard on her. Anyway, lets’ get to work on packing. We will have to use a large portion of our saved-up supplies on this mission, since we will be going farther than ever before we even reach another settlement.”

            Annika’s comrades all nodded and then the CAS members all got to work.

            The next morning, all of the CAS members, including Linda, gathered in the base. Linda had been briefed on what was going on by Drake. Annika, Ryan, Leo, Sapphire and Marcy then walked over to the Creekside Tavern where they were able to have Aubrey and Sam contact Jian and Shen. The seven Pokémon met over a late breakfast.

As Jian had said, Shen was an Alakazam. Shen looked quite a bit older than his assistant. The Alakazam looked over the five CAS members and then said, “Jian said that he had met with your leader, the Weavile. Now, to start, I wish to know whether or not you will accept our contract?”

Annika said, “As the leader of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society, I can tell you that we have agreed to escort the two of you north to the volcano’s crater and from there to the town north of the volcano. We will part after being paid there, correct?”

Shen smiled and nodded, he then told Annika, “That is all very good. I look forward to our partnership. A Graveler IMC representative named Joshua will be waiting for us at the town nearby Mount Flattop. He will make sure that all of you are well paid for your work. Now, we have a cart of equipment and supplies that Jian will be pulling and I will be ‘riding’. By riding, I mean I will be psychically levitating just above it. We are ready to go whenever you all are. So, when will you be ready to go?”

Annika answered, “We will be leaving one of our members, who is at our base right now, in town. Everyone you see here will be going with you. We will finish our preparations and packing today and then meet you two at the northern gate of Creekside Town, just next to the bridge over the river, tomorrow in the mid-morning. Does that work for you?”

Shen nodded and then said, “That does work for me. Thank you all for being willing to take on such a major mission on such short notice. You will be well paid for your work with us.”

Annika nodded and then shook Shen’s hand. She then said, “I have someone to visit nearby Mount Flattop as it is. So, our deal should prove even more mutually beneficial than it otherwise would.”

Shen simply nodded and then said, “We will see you tomorrow morning, in that case.”

The CAS members and their new clients finished their breakfast. As Annika and her four comrades were about to leave, Shen mentioned, “I see that your society now contains an Absol. She may be particularly helpful on this expedition.”

Marcy simply blushed a bit and then nodded at Shen. She then told him, “You can call me Marcy. We will see you tomorrow morning.”

Shen nodded and then he and Jian went upstairs to make sure final preparations for their upcoming journey were taken care of.

Annika and her comrades returned to their base, where they got their packs all ready for the mission to come.

That evening, only Annika and Drake were left in the base. Annika told Drake, “You know that I have faith in you, right? I think you and Linda will do a fine job of running our operation while the rest of us are away.”

Drake chuckled and then told Annika, “I already said that I am alright with how this all worked out. Marcy is going to be more useful on this mission than I would be, Ryan is needed for other reasons and you can’t seem to be able to split up Leo and Sapphire. Those two are awfully close, and getting closer.”

Annika nodded, chuckled at what Drake had finished with and then replied, “Yeah, I am wondering if Leo will get his wish to have Sapphire as his bride? He really does care about her, certainly more than he cares about money, which is also high on his list of priorities. Anyway, I think that the CAS will be in good hands with you as its acting leader.”

Drake smiled, seemed to blush a bit and then told Annika, “Maybe I can find a boyfriend of my own while I am running the base? Either way, I wish you a safe journey both there and back. Seeing all that I owe you, I would hate for you all to not make it back safely.”

Annika then pointed out, “We have only been defeated once. And that was due to being split up and the tactical mistake of Alyssa and I following you as you chased that Rufflet. Of course, that was not even a permanent defeat.”

Drake responded, “If it had been a permanent defeat, then we would not be talking here now, would we? Anyway, I should go home now. Maybe my house will also finish up its construction while you all are away? Goodbye for now, Annika.”

Annika nodded as Drake flew up and out of the skylight. He made sure to close the cover behind him. Annika then headed off to bed, thinking, “Alyssa, my love, I will hopefully be with you again soon enough.”

The next morning, Annika, Leo, Sapphire, Ryan and Marcy all met up with Jian and Shen at the northern gate of Creekside Town. Jian and Shen had their two-wheeled supply cart with them. The group of seven Pokémon then advanced over the Suicune’s River bridge, which sloped up in a curved shape to allow boats to go under it. Then, the seven Pokémon set off across the plains to the north of Suicune’s river. They were determined to reach the first town on the route within the first few days of their leaving Creekside.


	25. The Expedition Begins

            The first two days of the expedition north of Creekside Town were relatively uneventful. The seven Pokémon group passed by many wild Pokémon as they traversed the road north through the verdant plains of the island. However, their group was large and unobtrusive enough that they were not attacked.

            The expedition’s formation had the cart pulled by Jian, and with Shen floating above it, close to the rear. Ryan would stay on the wing for as long as he could to provide a wider field of view for the group and to scout ahead as needed. Of the four other CAS Pokémon, Annika, Sapphire Leo and Marcy, two of them would always be ahead of the cart and two of them would always be behind the cart.

            A couple evenings after the trip began, the expedition had managed to stop for rest under a small series of trees that were nicely grouped together. Marcy had predicted that some rain would soon arrive, which had prompted the expedition members to seek shelter. As the sky grew cloudier and thunder could be heard booming in the distance, Marcy’s prediction seemed to have been vindicated.

As most of the expedition members went to sleep, Marcy had volunteered to take the first watch. She looked out at the rain as Annika tried to get some rest. Annika had agreed to take the second watch, so she knew that she did not have too much time to rest in before Marcy would wake her up.

            When Marcy did nudge Annika awake, Annika got up slowly and noticed that it was still raining. Marcy then said, “It is your watch time, I believe. However, I don’t feel like I can sleep with all of this rain around us. Would you mind if I helped you keep watch for a bit?”

            Annika stretched a bit and then told Marcy, “Sure, you can stay up with me if you want to. Just beware of not getting too much rest, ok?”

            Marcy nodded and then sat down next to Annika as she took up her watch position on the edge of the area sheltered by the trees. Marcy then asked Annika, “I have heard about how you met your crush, Alyssa. She sounds very sweet from everything you have told me. I was wondering, since my being a member of my species was a disadvantage to me when I was younger, if your interest in other females disadvantaged you when you were younger?”

            Annika did not know exactly how to respond, she did realize that Marcy had been a victim of discrimination, just not in the same way that she had been. Annika then collected herself and answered, “I was raised somewhere where homosexuals were considered to be inherently bad people. Once everyone knew who I was, they were not kind to me. Until I left that place, I was alone in the world. Coming to Creekside Town gave me a chance at a new life for myself. That was why I formed the CAS, I wanted to do something with my existence that would both bring me exciting experiences and also do some good for the inhabitants of this world.”

            Marcy simply nodded at Annika and then gave her a vague smile, saying, “I wanted to be accepted by my small community. Sparks was the only one in that old place that seemed to trust me, at least at first. I also know what it is like to be alone in the world. After my village was all but destroyed by the Reavers, I was alone. I searched for some means of revenge and stopping them from committing more atrocities for so long that I allowed you all and the AML to destroy them. I wish I could have been there, when the Hierophant Lucius slew Salen. Either way, the evil of the Reavers is gone now. But there is still so much work to be done. Others will take their place and commit acts of mindless violence….”

            Annika nodded and then said, “That is why ones like us are needed. Even if we are compensated on the way, I really believe that the CAS is doing the right thing and making a positive difference in the world. Hopefully, around the time we get back from this mission, Linda will be ready to join up with us as an active member.”

            Marcy then told Annika, “I guess that we both know what it is like to be mistreated by others. Drake told me about his past during some of our earlier minor outings. He seems to have been through quite a bit of trouble before you, Leo, Sapphire and Ryan found him. I guess that our organization is a mix of misfits and Pokémon who had relatively normal upbringings. Anyway, I should be getting some sleep soon. But I am glad to have met you, Annika. I hope that you find happiness with Alyssa. You two sound like you deserve each other.”

            Annika smiled warmly at Marcy and then, as she was heading away to find a place to lay down, told her, “I am glad that you came to us. I hope that you are able to find love again yourself. Maybe I also will tell you more about myself later on?”

            Marcy nodded drowsily back over at Annika and then curled herself up and quickly feel asleep.

            Annika then looked out into the rain-filled darkness and thought, “When should I tell Marcy that I was human? When should I tell Linda? When should I tell Alyssa?”

            The next morning, the expedition kept their march north up. They were hoping to reach the small farming village that would be the first stop on their trip by the end of the day. Thankfully, the rain had stopped by the time that they got moving early that day.

            Around midday, the expedition began to near an area where there were small hills on each side of the road. Each of the hills was covered in foliage of various kinds. Annika and Marcy were in the lead part of the group, while Ryan was flying above them. Leo and Sapphire were bringing up the rear, while Jian and Shen were attending to the cart, as usual.

            As the group neared the hills, Ryan said, “The plant cover on that raised terrain is pretty thick. I think we should ready ourselves as we pass through this area.”

            Annika nodded and began to train her eyes on the plants growing out of the hills. The caravan of Pokémon began to make its way up the road leading between the hills. As they were about halfway through, Annika seemed to see an eye or two looking out from the plants. As she focused in, a large number of Croagunk advanced from underneath the plants and began to rush the Pokémon below them. The Croagunk were being followed by a smaller unit of Drowzee, which only had two of them coming from each side.

            Annika shouted, “Ryan, get down here and help us stop these bandits!”

            Ryan nodded and then he began to dive bomb the advancing Croagunk.

            Marcy shouted, “I am going after the Drowzee, you all should try to cover me!”

            Leo and Sapphire took positions to defend the cart, as Annika began to aim her claws at the Croagunk to blast them with pulses of frozen air.

            As one of the Croagunk began to advance on Annika, she saw Shen point a finger at the bandit and project a ray of psychic energy, which downed him upon impact. Annika then saw that Jian had put down the handles to the cart and use some sort of mental attack to down a Croagunk by overloading his brain with psychic energy.

            Annika then slowed one of the incoming Croagunk down with a blast of targeted freezing air and dodged an attack by one of the enemies who had come up from directly behind her.

            Annika then saw Marcy charging up the ridge at a Drowzee and chomp down on him with her teeth. Sapphire was covering Marcy by blasting an entire group of enemies with her sonic attack. Ryan was dive-bombing the enemies and striking them with his beak. Leo was cartwheeling through the advancing bandits with his back alight. Eventually, he reached a Drowzee and began to engage that foe.

            The Croagunk engaging Annika managed to splash up some mud into her eyes. Annika tried to shake it off as she then tore into her foe with a rapid series of claw attacks. The Croagunk staggered back and then was finished by a mental assault from Jian.

            Annika managed to remove the mud from her eyes in time to see that both Marcy and Leo had managed to take out a Drowzee, as Ryan and Sapphire continued to devastate the enemy ranks. Seeing that the enemies were losing their troops fast, Annika rushed up a hill and slashed into a Drowzee with a dark energy claw.

            As Marcy rushed at her, the final Drowzee began to call a retreat. Ryan then made a beeline for that foe, saying, “We don’t want any of them getting away! Don’t let them escape to harass us, or other travelers, later!”

            Following Ryan’s advice, Shen and Jian finished off the remaining Croagunk, as they began to retreat, while Annika downed her retreating foe with a dark energy claw to the back of the head.

            Ryan was able to dive-bomb the last Drowzee as she fled and prevent her from escaping. As she turned to face Ryan, Marcy had just enough time to leap into action and bite her in the back. As the weakened Drowzee tried to engage Marcy, Sapphire downed her with a blast of high-pressure water from a distance.

            As she looked over the battlefield, which was strewn with the bodies of the defeated bandits, Annika said, “Ok, I don’t think they were expecting us to be seasoned adventurers. Lets’ keep advancing. We should make it to the nearby village by dusk with any luck.

            Shen nodded as Annika’s team got back into formation. He said, “Good job. I see that your organization is as effective as your reputation suggests. While Jian and myself had a powerful advantage against those Croagunk, we may not be as prepared to deal with most hostiles. Besides, their numbers were considerable.”

            Annika replied, “This is what you hired us for, after all. Now, we need to get moving again.”

            Annika and Marcy managed to lead the expedition farther north through the dark-green grass covered terrain. As the sun was beginning to set, they managed to close on in on a settlement that looked much smaller than Creekside. The small village had a few small farms to the north of it.

As the expedition neared the entrance to the small village, they saw a Lilligant approaching them. As they were almost to the village entrance, the Lilligant said, “Welcome to our village. My name is Pauline. I am the local innkeeper. I have to ask, though, did you have any trouble on your way here? Pokémon coming up north in our direction have often been assailed by a large bandit clan lately.”

Annika smiled and then told Pauline, “We managed to deal with them. Ideally, they will not cause much trouble for anyone around here again. You can have someone check the pass if you would like.”

Pauline smiled back at Annika and her companions and then told her, “Well, in that case, you all are welcome here. I will lead you to the small inn that I manage. We have not had many visitors lately due to the bandits, so there should be rooms open for all of you. Some of you might have to share rooms, however.”

            The expedition’s Pokémon then followed Pauline north into town. They saw that the settlement was only a small fraction of the size of Creekside Town. The streets were dirty and unpaved and there were only two of them. One of the streets ran north-south and the other ran east-west. Nearby the center of the settlement was the inn, the largest building present in the village.

            Shen and Jian made sure to park their cart right next to the inn. Then, Annika and the others followed Pauline into the two-story wooden structure, and saw that its ground floor was much smaller than that of the Creekside Tavern. The group of Pokémon then purchased four rooms for the night. Annika was allowed her own room, Marcy and Sapphire were sharing a room, Ryan and Leo were sharing a room and so were Jian and Shen. Pauline promised that the expeditions’ cart would not be stolen while they stayed the night. Annika made sure to inform Pauline that they would be stocking up on provisions the next day and then heading north once again. After that, she headed upstairs to get some rest.

            When Annika woke up the next morning, the sun had just barely risen. Annika made her way downstairs and found herself on the tavern floor of the inn. There were a couple of customers at tables, but they seemed to be busy or minding their own business.

Pauline was making sure that all of her glasses were clean when Annika walked up to the bar. She then asked Annika, “So, I forgot to ask you before. What are all of you doing heading up north, anyway? All that I caught before is that you all were coming from the port of Creekside.”

Annika sat down at the bar and then replied, “Well, we are heading north to the volcano south of Mount Flattop. The two psychic Pokémon with us are trying to ascertain if the volcano will erupt soon. The rest of us are hired adventurers who are escorting them to their destination.”

            Pauline nodded and then said, “I can tell you the best places in town to stock up later. For now, let me say that some travelers coming south earlier told me that sightings of the Legendary Bird Articuno have been frequent in the area surrounding the volcano. So, you all will need to be careful. Also, the fastest way for you all to reach the volcano and the mining town built on its foothills from here is to advance directly north through the barren wastelands that lie between here and the more temperate regions of the northern coast. It should be about a four-day trip from here to the volcano’s southern foothills and the town you will find there.”

            Annika nodded to Pauline and then told her, “Thank you for that information. We will have to advance through the wastes and from there, we will reach the volcano. I have no intention of turning back now. We will be sure to stock up as much as possible today before leaving this place.”

            Pauline smiled back at Annika and then replied, “Good luck on your mission. I am just curious, though, are you just a mercenary or do you have any other reasons for heading north?”

            Annika thought for a moment and then said, “I knew that this would be a really big job when I took it on. To be honest, I am not only taking this mission on for the pay. My sweetheart is up north and I want to see her again.”

            Pauline gave Annika a confused look and then told her, “Ok, I think that since you got rid of the bandit clan, I will simply not bother to pursue that line of conversation further.”

            Annika looked mildly annoyed and then saw that her comrades were starting to come down the stairs.

            The expedition’s Pokémon then all ate breakfast and paid Pauline handsomely for her services. Then, the group headed out into to town to resupply themselves for the four-day journey north to the mining town from where they would advance up the volcano’s slope.

            Before noon, Annika and her allies were all ready to head out and begin their journey into the wastelands. The seven Pokémon took what would be their last look at civilization for a while and then began walking north. By the time they stopped to rest for the night, the expedition’s Pokémon had already noticed a drastic decrease in the number of plants in the area.


	26. Across the Wastelands

            Annika and her comrades had spent two days traveling across the barren and sandy wastes at the center of the island’s northern half. They had been able to find a couple of springs off the side of the road at which to refill their water supply. It seemed to Annika that the winding desert road had been set up so as to try to get travelers close to the springs.

            From what Annika could tell from the map of the island she had been using, the expedition was around half-way through the barren wasteland. They would hopefully be out of the wastes in a day or two. The expedition had had to fight off a small number of groups of wild Pokémon as they traveled north. However, they had not encountered any hostile packs that were large enough to pose any real threat to the seven-member expedition.

            The sun was at its highest in the sky, indicating it being around noon, when Annika looked out into the wastes and said, “I think I see a bank of cacti on the road ahead. Maybe there are so few travelers here that they were allowed to grow?”

            Ryan called down, “I am not sure what is going on with those plants, to be honest? I think that it is unlikely that they would all have grown there so quickly. Wait… it looks like they are moving towards you?”

            Annika saw that the cacti were in fact moving toward the expedition members at a decently fast pace. She held out her claws and then fired out a pulse of cold air. One of the cacti fell to the ground as Jian called out, “These creatures are called Cacnea, they are a form of plant Pokémon that live in desert areas.”

            The Cacnea began to close, wildly swinging their extended thorn-covered arms. As the Cacnea closed, those of their number in the rear began to fling barbs at the expedition force. Leo moved up and ignited his back, as Sapphire began to blast at the Cacnea with her vocal sonic attack. Ryan flew out of the sky, evading barbs that were flying at him, and then struck one of the Cacnea beak-first, knocking her out. Marcy leaped into the front lines, as Leo began to cartwheel through the approaching foes. Marcy followed Leo, hacking at the Cacnea who survived Leo’s flaming attack with the blade on her head.

As she was slicing and dicing the Cacnea, Marcy took a second to focus herself and then was surrounded by a shell of energy. When the shell opened, Marcy had grown two wings and more fur. She looked impressively elegant and immediately returned her focus to tearing into the horde of Cacnea.

Annika dodged a couple of barbs from the Cacnea and then focused a pulse of frozen air to finish one of the enemies sniping at her. She then saw two Cacnea coming right for her. Annika was struck by one of their thorny arms and then staggered back a bit.

            Shen saw that Annika was in a bit of danger and then focused a ray of psychic energy, which knocked one of the Cacnea backward, leaving her vulnerable to be finished by a psychic assault from Jian.

After Annika began to recover, she saw Ryan strike the Cacnea who was still near her head on, knocking that for down. Ryan then continued to slam his beak into the foe, wounding him until he finally passed out. Annika then saw a third Cacnea charging at the now tired Ryan. She leaped in front of Ryan and then hacked into the surprised cactus Pokémon with a number of well-timed claw cuts.

As Ryan took off again, Annika saw Leo and Marcy cooperating to down a trio of Cacnea that had tried to surround and drain the life out of Sapphire.

With only a few of the Cacnea remaining, Annika rushed at them and then began to tear into them with her claws, not wanting them to bother her expedition again. As Leo, Sapphire and Ryan dealt with another unit of Cacnea, Marcy rushed over to help Annika, delivering precise slices with her head-mounted scythe to down a couple of foes.

The hoard of animate cacti had soon been routed. Annika and her allies regrouped and then continued their march across the desert wastes.

By the next evening, Annika and her allies had made it through most of the wastelands and the environment around them was beginning to look a bit nicer. The road, which had recently been winding in order to reach as many water springs as it could, now had become relatively straight in order to minimize the extra time travelers spent on it.

As the group looked for a decent place to camp for the night, Sapphire mentioned, “So, we thankfully have not seen Articuno yet. I was worried that we would run into her. I don’t think that even all of us could best such an ancient and powerful Pokémon if it came to a fight.”

Ryan then added, as he landed and began to walk with the others, “Articuno has been causing destruction of property and terrifying various Pokémon up north for a few months now. However, she seems to not stay in any one place for long and she also has not been trying to actively kill any Pokémon she attacks. Still, I would not want to run into her, just to be safe.”

Leo then told the group, “I heard a report, while we were in that small town to the south of here, indicating that Articuno has almost looked like she is searching for someone or something. Regardless, I hope that she does calm down soon, or leave the island to take her wrath somewhere far away…and preferably sparsely populated as well.”

Marcy said nothing, and continued to look for a decent camping spot, as Annika said, “If we do see her coming, what should we do?”

Marcy then spoke up to say, “Against a creature like that, unless you could catch her in a fight where you are attacking her by surprise, you would simply want to hide from detection as best as you could. I would not advise trying to engage her unless there is no other option. If we see her and she does not appear to be trying to pursue us, I would focus on trying to avoid doing anything that would provoke her anger. It would be best if we simply did not encounter her at all, I will say that.”

Annika nodded and then said, “As much as it would make a cool story, I think we are not ready to fight a demigoddess Pokémon. I do wonder, though, if Articuno appeared nearby Suicune’s River and Suicune is truly real and present in this area, would the two of them fight? Or, would one of them simply drive the other away?”

Shen then mentioned, “It is possible that Suicune would be able to calm Articuno’s rage, were the Lady of the River to become involved. My question is why the ancient avian has been disturbed and is now rampaging across the north of this island. Something or someone must have angered her. Maybe she is searching for that something or someone?”

            As the group of travelers were considering what Shen had proposed, Marcy said, “I see a spot with a few trees nearby. We should think about making camp for the night there.”

            Annika was able to see what Marcy was pointing at and then she replied, “Ok, we will head over there and then rest the night. We should be able to ‘break out’ of these wastes tomorrow morning at this rate.”

            Annika and Marcy led their group over to the trees, where they all were able to get some much-needed rest.

            The next morning, the expedition’s Pokémon continued their trek north. They were lucky to soon find themselves back in grass-covered terrain and out of the wastelands. Annika and her comrades could now easily see a small mountain emerging from the grassy plains, behind it they could see a much taller mountain, which flattened out at its peak. Shen told the others, “That is the volcano that we are looking for. Behind it is Mount Flattop, below which the IMC representative Joshua will meet with us, once the survey is complete. After we reach the mining town at the base of the volcano, we will have to advance up the slope to look at the crater itself.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “We will do everything we can to get you two and your equipment to the top of the volcano safely. We made a deal, after all.”

            Shen nodded back at Annika and then the expedition set off for the foothills of the volcano.

It was early morning the next day, when the expedition’s Pokémon managed to reach the outskirts of the mining town to the direct south of the volcano. The town’s streets and buildings had an ashen color to them and a number of buildings had signs proclaiming their ownership by one mine or another.

As the expedition walked around town, looking for a place to stay, Shen told everyone, “The IMC has only just begun to exert influence in this area. They want me to do this survey to see if it will be worth it for them to begin buying out mines in the vicinity. If the volcano is likely to erupt, I am to warn to locals and then tell Joshua that the sight is not safe for the IMC to move in and set up shop. Hopefully, our Absol companion, Marcy, will be able to help us determine the state of the volcano.”

Marcy simply nodded and then said, “I will do my best to assist you. I was chosen over a longer-term CAS member for this mission, so I do feel obligated to do as much as I can here.”

Annika the told Marcy, “You have been doing perfectly fine so far. Anyway, we should focus on trying to find the local inn for now.”

The seven Pokémon continued to explore the town, Annika noticed in particular a few statues of a four-legged armored looking Pokémon, who Leo believed was Heatran. They also found a number of supply shops and a few living complexes that could house a number of inhabitants or even a few small families.

Eventually, the seven-member expedition was able to locate a small tavern near the town square. When they walked inside, they saw a male Sandslash behind the bar. The tavern seemed to contain no one else at the moment. The Sandslash looked carefully over at the seven Pokémon as they entered the building. He then asked, “You folks like you are not from around here? What brings you to these parts?”

Annika, as the CAS leader, walked up to the bar first and then told the barkeeper, “Well, sir, we are here on business. We have come quite a long way to reach your town and we simply seek some rooms here, if you have any.”

The Sandslash nodded and then told the new arrivals, “My name is Peter, I am the owner and operator of this tavern. As for rooms, …I will have my daughter come and check on that. …Lisa, come down, we have guests!”

A female Sandshrew rolled down the stairs and then stood up in front of Peter. She then asked, “What is it, daddy? Oh, I see that we do have visitors.”

Peter then told Lisa, “I need you to go upstairs and see how many rooms we have open, ok?”

Lisa nodded, gave her father a brief salute, and then ran upstairs. Leo then remarked, “She seems nice. Anyway, sir, I was wondering, have you seen the Legendary Bird Articuno around here recently? We keep hearing that she has been causing trouble in the vicinity.”

Peter sighed and then told the group, “We have heard reports that she has been sighted not far from here. We can only hope that she does not come too close to the town.”

At that point, Lisa came rolling back down the stairs, she then informed her father, “We have three of our rooms open, each with two beds. We do have an extra bed or two that we can move into a room if necessary, however.”

Shen then said, “I will take one room with Jian. It will be nice to sleep in any kind of bed again.”

Sapphire then volunteered, “I feel comfortable enough with Leo and Ryan that the three of us can take a room, as long as we can get an extra bed.”

Leo sighed and then said, “It may end up being cramped in the room, but that should work. I also would not mind sleeping in the same room as you for once, Sapphire.”

Leo and Sapphire both blushed as Annika face-clawed, without scratching herself. Marcy shook her head as Ryan shrugged his shoulders and remarked, “Anyway, that leaves Annika and Marcy.”

Annika then nodded and asked Marcy, “Would you be alright to room with me?”

Marcy nodded and then said, “That sounds good to me, you already have a sweetheart elsewhere, anyway.”

Peter looked vaguely confused and then asked, “So, does that settle it? Will you all take the rooms?”

            Annika and Shen both nodded and then they paid Peter the fee for the night. After that, the cart was parked just behind the tavern and the CAS Pokémon were told by their clients that they had the day off. The next day, they were all to begin their ascent of the volcanic mountain together.

            After placing their packs in their respective inn rooms, Annika and the other CAS members spent the day exploring the small town and restocking their supplies. That evening, the five of them met at the only decent seeming restaurant in the mining town, as the various miner Pokémon returned from work, and had dinner there.

After dinner, the CAS members returned to the tavern, where Jian and Shen had eaten dinner. They then went to their respective rooms to get a good night’s rest before setting out again the next day. As Annika lay in her bed that night, seeing that Marcy had fallen asleep across the room, she thought to herself, “I hope that Alyssa is at the AML camp. I just have to see her again.”


	27. Scaling the Volcano

            The morning after arriving in the mining town located in the southern foothills of the volcano, Annika and her allies were all packed up and ready to begin their advance up the dark-brown colored slope. As the expedition began their advance up the slope, Shen informed the others, “We should be able to climb the mountain within a day or two. Once we have finished our survey, we shall make our way down the northern side of the mountain, which should take us to the riverside town between the two mountains. Once we all get to that village, we will find Joshua and he will collect the results of the survey. He will also pay you all for your help.”

            Annika replied, as the slope began to get steeper, “I understand the mission. We will make sure that you reach the top of the mountain safely and then get you back down the slope to the town on the other side.”

            Ryan then added, “I think that the place we are heading to is called Twopeak Town. I also must say that I have never felt luckier to be able to fly. While I need to rest my wings on occasion, at least I don’t have to climb up the steep slope that you all are currently ascending.”

            Sapphire and Leo briefly glared at Ryan who then chuckled back at them. Marcy did not have a particular response to Ryan’s comment. Jian then added, “Pulling the cart up the slope and then making sure it gets back down safely is probably the hardest job anyone here has.”

            Annika nodded, as did the others. The expedition force then continued to advance up the slope. It was not long until trees seemed to disappear from the mountainside. Annika noted that there was no lava actively flowing in the area, any that there had been had cooled long ago. She saw that as a good sign that the volcano was not a threat. However, she also knew that she was no expert on such matters.

            After spending most of the day traveling and engaging a few small groups of wild Pokémon, the expedition managed to find a large ledge jutting out of the volcano. There, they were able to rest for that night.

The next morning, the expedition Pokémon had packed up their camp and were now closing in on the top of the mountain. Ryan, who was scouting from the air as usual, told his comrades, “I see a group of Torkoal approaching us, they don’t look friendly to me!”

Annika looked around to see that there was indeed a group of around six to eight tortoise-like Pokémon approaching the group as fast as they could. Annika shouted, “Leo, Sapphire, Marcy get up in front! Ryan, you and I will keep our distance! We need to prevent them from setting the cart on fire!”

The Torkoal at the front of the herd were now faced by Leo, Sapphire and a Mega-Evolved Marcy. Jian held onto the cart as Shen prepared to begin firing psychic rays into the advancing wild Pokémon. The Torkoal began to blast pulses of fire at the CAS Pokémon.

Sapphire returned fire with a series of rapid-fire bubbles of high-pressure water. Leo then rushed at the Torkoal, knocking out the one that Sapphire had wounded with a lunging body slam. Ryan began to fly over the Torkoal and bombard them with leafy knifes, the sharp leaves had little effect on the enemies, however. As Marcy rushed in to cover Leo, Annika and Shen began to snipe at the Torkoal with their ranged attacks.

As another Torkoal fell, this time to Shen’s psychic rays, Annika saw that a couple of Torkoal in the rear were whipping up small tornadoes of fire, which extended into the air. Ryan took a couple of hits from the flaming tornadoes and seemed to have been lit on fire by them.

As Annika thought of what to do about Ryan, she was charged by another Torkoal, who was striking with a flaming cartwheel attack akin to the one Leo frequently used. Annika recoiled back in pain, as she saw Sapphire drop another Torkoal with a repeating blast of bubbles.

As the Torkoal righted herself, she was mentally assaulted by one of Jian’s psychic blasts. Annika took the opportunity to deliver a rapid series of claw strikes to the Torkoal’s exposed head. The burning Ryan then flew over the part of the battlefield where Annika was and sniped the Torkoal Annika was fighting with a leaf dagger to the head, dropping her. Ryan then landed behind Annika and began to roll on the ground so as to try and put out the intense fire on his body.

Annika then watched as Shen dodged a few pulses of fire and then downed another Torkoal with a psychic blast.

The final few Torkoal were trying to surround Sapphire and take her out with poisonous breath fumes. However, Leo and Marcy were there to help Sapphire out and start taking out the final group of Torkoal. Annika flung another pulse of ice to simply slow a hostile Torkoal down, allowing Sapphire to drop him with a high-pressure jet of water.

Shen and Jian then together managed to down another Torkoal. Marcy then bit down on the last one’s head, allowing Leo to strike him unconscious.

            With the last of the Torkoal downed, Ryan managed to put out his fire and then said, “That was a close one for me. Anyway, we should keep going, we are nearly to the mountaintop.”

            Annika nodded and then the squad of Pokémon managed to get back into formation and get closer to the top of the mountain.

            As the group of Pokémon neared the mountaintop, Shen said, “The crater should be ringed by a bit of solid crust that we can walked on safely. We will just need to be careful and avoid having anyone fall in. Your flying comrade should be at the ready to catch anyone in case that happens.”

            Ryan nodded, saying, “I will do my best. Everyone should be careful, though.”

            At that point, the expedition members all heard a loud noise that sounded like something akin to a cross between a moo and a roar. The expedition Pokémon saw a small herd of four Numel being led by one male Camerupt charging down at them. The Numel began to hurl large blasts of fire, which exploded on impact, out of their mouths. The Camerupt simply kept charging at the team. He then blasted them all with a barrage of rocks.

            With their enemies advancing quickly, and feeling badly injured already, Annika shouted, “Split up! Sapphire, take down their leader! Everyone else, take out his support!”

            The expedition Pokémon split up as fast as they could. Sapphire was picked up by Ryan and moved out of the way of the charging Camerupt. She then fired a slew of bubbles into the hostile herd’s leader, causing severe injury. Ryan then fired a series of leaves into the Camerupt, as he took to the air again to try and draw the Numels’ fire.

            Leo and Marcy moved past the Camerupt and then charged at his Numel allies. Annika and Shen brought one of the Numel down together using their ranged blasts, as they tried to stay out of the way of the Camerupt. Jian was focused on getting the cart away from the Camerupt, who then detonated a blast of Lava around himself. Annika and her allies narrowly avoided the plume of fire.

            As Leo and Marcy began to attack a Numel in melee, Annika took a blast of fire from another and tumbled back. She then hauled herself up and fired a pulse of icy air into the Camerupt, seeing as though he was both closer and larger.

            Shen then moved to cover Jian and sniped the Numel who had further wounded Annika with one of his psychic rays. Sapphire then downed the Camerupt with a jet of water. He hit the ground with a mighty thud.

            Ryan was now able to drop the Numel who Shen had wounded with a series of grassy pulses and then dodge the flaming attacks of the remaining two Numel.

            The two Numel who were still standing, seeing the alpha male of their herd fall, began to turn tail after firing off one final blast of fire each at the expedition. Ryan swung back around, picked Sapphire up again and then allowed her to snipe one of the Numel unconscious with her bubbly shots. Leo and Marcy dropped the last Numel with their combined Melee attacks.

            After the battle was over, Jian was able to get the cart moving again. The weakened but triumphant expedition was able to find their way to the top of the volcano by the time that the sun was at the center of the sky.

            Once the expedition reached the ring of solid ground atop the volcano, Shen and Jian began to unpack a few pieces of fancy looking equipment from their cart. They then began to take measurements. At least, Annika thought that that was what they were doing. Annika also noticed a few crags of rock that looked big enough for a Pokémon to hide behind scattered around the area.

            As Marcy sat herself down and seemed to be engaging in what almost seemed like meditation, Annika said, “Leo, Sapphire, make sure that our clients are well guarded. Ryan, patrol from the air and make sure that we are not disturbed. I will patrol on the ground and see what I can find in this area.”

            As Annika’s teammates began to comply with her orders, Annika carefully walked over to the edge of the crater and looked down. She stepped back almost immediately when she saw that it was a very steep drop down what looked like hundreds of feet. She saw what looked like a some actively flowing lava at the bottom of the drop lighting up the depths of the volcano. Annika also seemed to see at least one large rock shelf jutting out from within the volcano above the lava level. Annika then noticed that Shen was actively looking into the volcanic crater and studying it as carefully as he could.

            Annika decided to commit herself to staying on the safer areas of the mountaintop and patrolling the area to make sure that the expedition would not be attacked by wild Pokémon.

            With Leo and Sapphire guarding the cart and Ryan and Annika on patrol duty, the expedition spent a few hours atop the volcano. As evening was soon to fall, Marcy awoke from her trance and then said to the others, “I think I have the answer we are looking for.”

            Shen eagerly asked Marcy, “We can figure out that there is lava in this volcano, but we are having trouble discerning whether or not it is likely to erupt anytime soon. So, what do you have to say on the subject?”

            Marcy replied, “This volcano is stable. I am not detecting any possibility that it will erupt in the near future. It seems that the lava would need some kind of catalyst in order to begin rising. Otherwise, the area should be safe for quite some time, at least for as long as current conditions persist.”

            Shen and Jian nodded and then Shen took some notes. He then said, “Jian and I will spend a bit more time here and then we will make a camp nearby. We will spend tomorrow and maybe some of the day after that traveling to Twopeak Town to meet up with Joshua. Thank you, Miss Marcy, your help has been very valuable to us.”

            Marcy nodded back at Shen. Annika could see that she was blushing a bit.

            After Shen and Jian packed their equipment back up and as the sky began to darken, the expedition began to look head for the northern side of the mountain. They were going to try and find an advantageous place to camp.

            As the expedition was just beginning to head down the mountain, they saw a small ledge. They began to move towards it to set up their campsite. Annika was thinking of telling Marcy the truth of her origins, just as she was about to say something, she heard Ryan shouting, “Guys… we need to find cover now!”

            The air began to feel colder and Annika could suddenly hear and feel powerful gusts of wind. She then looked north and saw the form of a massive avian creature appear against the background of the rising moon.

            Leo looked up and said, clearly in awe, “That has to be Articuno! We need to hide!”

            Marcy, then ordered, “Everyone, under the shelf of rock! We need to hide wherever we can!”

            As Ryan dove out of the sky, the huge Avian got closer and closer to the expedition’s positon. Jian abandoned the cart to follow the others to cover. Annika, Marcy, Leo and Sapphire managed to hide under the jetting shelf of rock. Ryan managed to find a nearby boulder to take cover behind. Shen and Jian managed to find a small crevice in the mountainside to hide within.

            As Annika could feel her heart racing, the air continued to feel colder. Annika then heard the crash of the ancient bird landing just above her position. A female voice could then be heard saying, “Who could have left this cart here? I thought I saw someone who could have been her? Maybe I was just seeing things? Besides, the other figures that I thought I saw were not the same as the ones who attacked me before. Regardless, this cart has no use to me. My search will continue to the south!”

            Annika did her best to try a figure out what the great bird meant by all that she had said. She then heard and felt the force of Articuno taking off into the sky. Marcy then quietly whispered, “I will check to see if she is really gone. Stay here until I get back.”

            Annika nodded and then whispered, “I would like to know who she was talking about that attacked her?”

            Marcy shrugged her shoulders and then carefully peeked out. After a few tense moments, Marcy said, “She is heading south now. I can still see frost all over the area. We can only hope that she does not attack the mining town that we were recently in.”

            Annika nodded and then the expedition’s Pokémon began to slowly emerge from their hiding places. After reclaiming the cart, the group made camp on the rocky outcropping and then rested the night, making sure to always have someone on watch.

            The next morning, the group could not see Articuno anywhere near them, much to everyone’s relief. Shen then said, as the camp was being packed up, “We will now make our way to Twopeak Town. We should be able to reach the settlement by the end of the day.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “I have a sweetheart to see and we all have to get paid for our work. Let’s move out!”

            As the group of Pokémon made their way north down the face of the mountain towards Twopeak town and the small stream it bordered below, Annika pulled Marcy aside and told her, “There is something I need to tell you in private before I go to find Alyssa. Remind me if I have not told you by then.”

            Marcy simply nodded as the group made its way down the mountainside.


	28. Twopeak Town

            The expedition made its way into the outskirts of Twopeak Town late at night. They managed to find an inn on the northern side of the settlement, which reminded Annika and her comrades more of Creekside than any other place they had yet visited. After paying for rooms for the night, Shen told the CAS Pokémon, “We will rest here and tomorrow, we will head over to the IMC office in this town. There, we will meet up with Joshua and he will take care of payment for you all.”

            Annika nodded and then told Shen, “I told you that we would be able to complete the mission repeatedly, didn’t I?”

            Shen nodded and then responded, “I never said that I doubted you. Now, we should all get some rest. Tomorrow should be the end of our association.”

            The various Pokémon then headed up to get some sleep. This time, they had been able to get four rooms and Annika was able to have one all to herself.

            Annika went right to sleep as soon as she put her pack down in her inn room. She fell asleep with a smile on her face, knowing that she would hopefully be able to see Alyssa soon.

            The next morning, Annika woke up and yawned while stretching. Almost immediately after she woke up, she heard a noise at her inn rooms door. Annika then walked over to the door and opened it to see that Marcy was standing at the door. As Annika rubbed one of her eyes, Marcy said, “You had something you wanted to talk about with me. I thought that we could discuss it before breakfast.”

            Annika then nodded and told Marcy, “Yeah, come in.”

            Marcy walked inside Annika’s room and then Annika made sure to close the door behind her. Once they were both inside, Annika sat down-cross-legged on her bed. Marcy simply sat down in front of her and waited for Annika to speak.

            Annika took a deep breath and then asked Marcy, “Do you know what humans are, Marcy?”

            Marcy nodded yes and then replied, “They are a race of intelligent creatures who lack the powers of us Pokémon and normally live apart from our kind. I have heard that they make beautiful works of art and a variety of useful tools and dangerous weapons. However, I have never met one in person.”

            Annika chuckled and then told Marcy, “What I am going to tell you may sound insane…but you have met one. Sort of that is. I was once human. The orphanage that I was raised in was on another world, I was born a human girl and abandoned by my parents. The reason that I became a Pokémon, as far as I know was that some cosmic entity answered my incessant prayers and made me a Pokémon as a way for me to escape my awful situation. I have told the others before, expect for Linda. I am only telling you now because I felt that you should know, now that you have proved yourself as a member of the CAS.”

            Marcy did not show much reaction at first. She then slowly replied, “That is interesting. I guess that there is no way to disprove you having been human once. I am not sure what to say about that, other than to reassure you that I will continue to judge you based on your actions, not your past. …Thank you for being willing to share that with me.”

            Annika then smiled back at Marcy and said, “Alright, with that taken care of lets’ head downstairs and get some breakfast.”

            Marcy nodded hungrily and then followed Annika out of the room and downstairs.

It was not long until the entire expedition had managed to make it to the restaurant floor of the large inn. The seven Pokémon all ate their breakfasts and then Shen led the way through town to look for the IMC office.

Before noon, the expedition’s members managed to find the small dark-grey stone building that was serving as the IMC office for the region. When the seven Pokémon crammed inside the building, they all saw a male Graveler behind a counter, looking over some mining supplies, which he had recently organized by the look of things.

            The Graveler looked the seven new arrivals over, after turning around, and then smiled warmly at them. He then said, “Shen, I presume. Also, I can assume that these are your assistant Jian and the members of the illustrious Creekside Adventurers’ Society?”

            Shen nodded and then said, “You must be Joshua. Thanks to the Absol, Marcy, in major part, we have our survey ready for you. Our escorts will be needing their payment now.”

            Joshua nodded and then began pulling some bags up to the counter, while saying, “I have your money right here. You will have to divide it up amongst yourselves. Horton said that you all were good at what you do. I will admit that he did not mention an Absol member of your organization, though.”

            As Annika and her teammates were seizing up their bags of Poké coins, Annika said, “Pleasure doing business with you. Marcy is new, we met her after we did business with Horton. Anyway, I was wondering how far the Acolytes of the Mystic Lands’ camp is from here. I heard that it was just south of Mount Flattop earlier.”

            Joshua finished handing out the money bags and then said, “I am not sure why you would want to visit them, but they don’t reject visitors automatically. It is only a few hours walk north of this town, I think.”

            Shen then handed Joshua the survey results and said, “I believe that we should be done here for now. Jian and I are headed north by sea on the next boat out from this town we can find. As for the members of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society, thank you for everything and I hope you enjoy your well-earned pay.”

            Shen and Jian then allowed Joshua to look over the survey results. Once that was done, the two psychic Pokémon left the building. As Annika and her teammates were finishing up dividing their earnings, Joshua said to them, “I may have some other work for you all. It is not necessarily time sensitive.”

            Annika then asked, “Ok, what is that?”

            Joshua replied, “A long time ago, I heard tell of a village of some kind situated underground not far from here. They seemed somewhat isolationist from what I heard. If this subterranean village is willing to negotiate with surface-dwellers, then it might be nice to see if they can be traded with at all. I can supply your society with some maps that should lead you to a cave entrance to the southwest of here and through the cave tunnels that supposedly lead to the village. If you go check that out and report back with the status of the village, I will be willing to compensate you all for your additional work.”

            Annika replied, as her teammates seemed somewhat interested in the additional work, “I have business to attend to before we take on any more job requests. However, when I am free, we will meet up with you here again to hopefully make a contract to go investigate this underground village you speak of.”

            Joshua nodded and then Sapphire suggested, “We should go and get restocked on supplies before we leave Twopeak. Then, Annika, we can try to find Alyssa tomorrow.”

            As they were all leaving the IMC building with their newly-earned pay, Marcy chimed in, “I do want to meet this Lucius to thank him for ridding the world of the Reavers. He contracted you all and he also killed the Reavers’ Templar personally. So, I will accompany Annika north, regardless if anyone else on the team will.”

            Annika nodded and then the CAS members spent most of the day buying up new supplies and then resting and relaxing at the inn. That evening, Annika fell asleep with her excitement over seeing Alyssa soon building to a fever pitch.

            The next morning, the five CAS members had just eaten a quick breakfast and were just beginning to discuss their plans. Ryan began by saying, “Just so they have air support, in case they are attacked on the way, I shall accompany Annika and Marcy north to the AML’s camp.”

            Annika then added, “Ok, once the three of us get back, we will inquire with Joshua about the cave exploration job that he mentioned before. Assuming that we can complete that job safely, we will set out for home as soon as possible. I will want to see how Drake and Linda have been doing back at base.”

            Sapphire then mentioned, “I have agreed to go out to dinner with Leo this evening. He apparently wants to apologize for his earlier verbal faux pas when we were to share a room.”

            Leo nodded somewhat awkwardly and then said, “I do want to apologize for letting my lustful thoughts make their way out of my mouth in public recently. Anyway, I hope that you all are able to locate the AML’s camp and that Alyssa is present when you arrive.”

            Annika nodded and then replied, “The whole expedition will not have been a waste if I cannot see her soon. However, I still desperately hope that she’s there now. I hope that Alyssa and I can make a plan to see each other again if we can meet up soon. Also, I still have a gift to deliver to her. I would rather not leave my gift to have her receive it later, I want to give her it in person.”

            Marcy nodded and then added, “The three of us who are going should head out soon. We will see if the AML Pokémon will allow us into their camp. I assume that they will, seeing as though they were a CAS client once.”

            Annika then nodded and said, “In that case, we will set off as soon as we have done some basic packing.”

            It was not long until Annika, Marcy and Ryan were all packed. As Leo and Sapphire prepared for their evening out, the other trio of CAS members all set out on their trip north to the area just south of the foothills of Mount Flattop.

            Annika and Marcy walked north for what felt like a few hours. Ryan spent most of the trip flying above them to provide air cover and reconnaissance. Eventually, the trio began to see a large series of tents and small buildings not far from them.

            Annika excitedly led the way to what appeared to be the AML Campsite, her gift for Alyssa in her pack. As they neared the camp, Annika realized that the small settlement was large enough to house thirty to forty Pokémon, possibly even more.

            Annika heard a familiar buzzing noise when they were almost to the outskirts of the camp. Ryan landed as Nero the Yanmega flew into sight and then hovered in front of the trio. Nero looked down at the trio of Pokémon as Marcy sat down, he then said, “Hmmm… I recognize one of you, the Dartrix from the Creekside Adventurers’ Society…”

            Annika then interjected, “Hello, Nero. It’s me, Annika. I evolved since you last saw me…”

            Nero then nodded and interrupted, “Oh yes, you must have used the Razor Claw that Hierophant Lucius gave you. So, who is your Absol companion?”

            Ryan answered, “This is Marcy, she is a new hire from after our joint mission. She was severely harmed by the Reavers in the past and would like to thank Lucius for ending Salen personally.”

            Nero then looked to Marcy who then said, “Yes, that is all correct. I would like to meet with your faith’s leader, even if it is not a long meeting.”

            Nero responded, “Alright then. What are you here for, Annika? Were you just escorting Marcy here?”

            Annika smiled, nodded no and then said, “I am here to see Lucius’s attendant Alyssa. I have a present to deliver for her.”

            Nero nodded again as Ryan said, “I was simply escorting both of them over here. I have no particular business in the camp.”

            Nero seemed to think for a moment and then he said, “Both Hierophant Lucius and his Attendant Alyssa are present at the moment. Miss Annika, I can direct you to Alyssa’s tent. Then, I will take Miss Marcy to go see if the Hierophant himself is available to talk to her.”

            Ryan nodded and then said, “I guess I will be waiting for you all here?”

            Nero looked back at Ryan and added, “The area is pretty safe. You should be able to go back to where you all are staying without incident. I assume that to be Twopeak Town?”

            Ryan asked Annika, “Should I return to Twopeak without you two?”

            Annika nodded yes and then said, “If we need any sort of escort back, we will get one from here. See you back in Twopeak, Ryan.”

            Ryan saluted Annika with one of his wings and then flew off.

            Nero then told Annika and Marcy, “You two should follow me. I will take you to your respective destinations.”

            As they walked into the camp, Marcy told Annika, “I will wait for you after my meeting.”

            Annika replied, “I might take a while, if Alyssa has the time. So, feel free to return to Twopeak Town whenever you can, we did not encounter any hostile wild Pokémon on the way up here, anyway.”

            Marcy nodded to Annika and then the two of them followed Nero deeper into the AML encampment.


	29. A Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey readers, I just wanted to tell you all that my six stories combined have now reached over 1,500 hits! Thank you all so much for reading and, if applicable, leaving kudos! Only ten chapters left to post now for this story.

            Annika was following Nero and Marcy through the AML’s surprisingly large camp. Annika wondered if most of the religion’s adherents lived in the camp. She even saw what looked like a couple of shops and a bank as they traveled through the village-sized encampment.

            As the trio neared the northern edge of the camp, which led right up to Mount Flattop, Nero used one of his legs to point out a medium sized and well decorated tent. He told Annika, “That is Alyssa’s tent. If she is not in there, you may wait for her.” Nero then turned to Marcy and continued, “Miss Marcy, I will take you to meet with Hierophant Lucius, assuming that he is currently not busy.”

            Annika and Marcy both nodded and then Nero led Marcy further north into the compound. Annika saw the two of them stop just outside of the largest tent she had seen in the encampment.

            Annika then walked up to the tent that Nero had pointed to and walked inside. She found a small bed, a table, a crate with some food in it and a mirror on a small stool arranged around the room. No one seemed to be home yet. Annika sighed, but assumed that Alyssa was somewhere in the camp. She decided to hide behind the crate and see who would come inside.

            It was not long until Annika saw the tent’s flap open and Alyssa walked in. Annika saw Alyssa walk over to her stool and inspect herself in the mirror briefly. Alyssa, without looking over, said, “That crest on your head is pretty, but it makes it much harder for you to hide.”

            Annika blushed brightly as she emerged from behind the crate. Alyssa smiled and turned to her saying, “I was told you were here, so I came back to see you.”

            Annika smiled back at Alyssa and dragged her pack out from behind the crate. She then said, “The CAS was in the area, minus Drake who is back at base. I wanted to see you again desperately and I brought you a gift.”

            Alyssa waited for Annika to extricate herself from behind the crate. Then, she waited patiently for Annika to remove her present from her pack. Annika said, “I hope that you do not already have one of these. I know that it won’t be of use to you immediately…”

            Alyssa saw Annika produce a rounded stone and hand it to her. As Alyssa held the stone in her paw-like hands she looked astounded and said, “This…it feels so…right to me? Oh my Arceus! You got me a Lucario Mega-Stone! Annika, this will be… thank you so much. You did not have to do this. I would have been happy to have you visiting me no matter what.”

            Annika blushed and nodded, as Alyssa put her new Mega-Stone away. Then, she said, “I wanted to give it to you because I love you. I wanted a physical way to show you how I feel about you.”

            Alyssa then walked up to Annika, placed her hands carefully on Annika’s claws and then said, “You have proven your feelings admirably. The only other present of at all equivalent value you could have gotten me would have been a Sun Ribbon. I very much want to evolve, since I have heard that Lucario have a unique power among Pokémon. However, your gift is wonderful and I am really happy to see you here. I must say, you look very ornate as a Weavile.”

            Annika smiled and then asked, “Is that a good thing?”

            Alyssa simply replied, “You have always been ‘cute’ to me. You now look both mature and fancy. I will say that your evolution has certainly not reduced my attraction to you.”

            Annika then asked, “So, are you free to do anything today?”

            Alyssa nodded and said, “I cannot miss this opportunity, we will spend the day together. I would love to catch up with you.”

            Alyssa then embraced Annika. As Annika wrapped her arms around Alyssa, she felt very much at peace. She then said, “There is something I have to tell you. However, we will save it for this evening.”

            Alyssa nodded and then the two girls gazed into each other’s eyes and shared their second kiss.

            After their lips parted, Alyssa said, “I am curious about what you have to tell me. However, we should go get something to eat, I have not had lunch yet. I am really happy that you came here, Annika. I am sure that you missed me… and I know that I missed you.”

            Annika simply smiled down at her love. The two of them then took each other’s hand and made their way out into the camp.

            Alyssa took Annika to get some lunch at a small café-like establishment that did not require that its guests pay for their meals. Annika explained that within the AML food was provided for free from the tithes provided by all of the faith’s members. Individual members of the AML could still own their own property and purchase extra luxury foods. However, within the camp basic meals were provided for both members and their guests.

            As the couple ate, Annika told Alyssa about Marcy and her history with the Reavers. Alyssa seemed somewhat interested in Marcy and her background and was also pleased that the CAS was growing.

            Annika and Alyssa spent much of the afternoon touring the AML’s camp. Alyssa told Annika that Lucius did not particularly need her help today. Someone else could easily take on Alyssa’s more basic duties while she was with Annika.

            Annika was impressed by the scale of Lucius’s operation, as they walked through the camp. Alyssa happened to mention that some of the AML’s converts, who had been searching for or protecting a number of Mystic Circles around the region, had been called back to base lately. Alyssa did not yet know why Lucius was consolidating his faith’s members. However, she inferred that it was possible that he wanted to redeploy the AML’s resources and membership to a series of new locations in the near future. She also considered the fact that a number of AML members may have been recalled to provide Lucius with reports on their missions’ progress, even though her first theory seemed more likely.

            That evening, Annika and Alyssa received word from Nero that Marcy had returned to Twopeak Town after being able to meet with Lucius. After that, Alyssa was able to get the two of them some of the camp’s higher-quality food, which the couple took a spot near a clump of trees and just off the river near the camp.

            Alyssa told Annika, as the pair sat down to eat, “I often come here to relax and meditate a little bit. I thought that I should share this place with you.”

            Annika replied, “This is very nice, actually. We can have a pleasant romantic dinner out here.”

            Alyssa nodded and smiled back at Annika.

            After a bit of eating, Annika decided to ask Alyssa a question, “So, I was wondering. I know that you owe Lucius for manumitting you from slavery, but why do you follow his religious doctrine? Why do you follow Lucius to the point where you call him your master still?”

            Alyssa sighed a bit and then chuckled. She then told Annika, “I follow Lucius because not only was he able to found a moderately successful religion, which no one had discovered until he was able to, but because he recognizes the state of our world with regard to the other religions present in it.”

            Annika looked a bit confused and then asked Alyssa, “So, how did he discover the Mystic Circles and what problem does he see in the world, with regard to religion?”

            Alyssa replied, “Lucius spent his youth as a well-regarded adventurer, he evolved relatively quickly from Kabuto to Kabutops due to his experience in combat. From what he has told me, he discovered multiple of the Mystic Circles on his various adventurers. Through intense study, he was able to realize what they truly were and set out to learn more about them. He also decided that more of them had to be both located and protected. The thing about Lucius that makes me truly committed to following him, and that has attracted so many others to his banner, is that he wants to use the power that is still contained in the Mystic Circles to help Pokémon.”

            Annika then asked, “Ok, so how does this connect to other religions in the world?”

            Alyssa quickly replied, “Most of the sects dedicated to Legendary Pokémon do not communicate with their patron at all. They simply leave them offerings and make prayers to them. The Acolytes of the Mystic Lands want to use ancient powers to actively heal and empower Pokémon. Our religion has the potential to have positive impacts on the world, more than those who blindly worship entities who do not answer their prayers.”

            Annika nodded and then told Alyssa, “I see your point. My main issue with religion has been how dogmatic and often oppressive it can be. Maybe the AML can circumvent that problem, maybe it cannot? Either way, thank you for the explanation.”

            Alyssa nodded and then the two of them got back to eating.

            Once Annika and Alyssa had eaten up their food, Alyssa asked Annika, “So, what is that thing you wanted to tell me earlier, but said that you were going to save until later?”

            Annika sighed and then asked Alyssa, “Have you ever heard of humans, Alyssa?”

            Alyssa nodded and then told Annika, “I actually think that I saw a few of them when I was younger and wild. They are the one species on the world that does not have inherent energy-based power like we do. I have heard that they are very good at crafting objects and building impressive structures.”      

            Annika then sighed and looked Alyssa in the eyes, she then said, “When I was being raised in that orphanage, it was in another world. And I was a human girl. I know that this must sound crazy to you, Alyssa, but I prayed to anyone who would listen to extricate me from my awful situation. That is how I ended up transformed into a Sneasel under a tree on the outskirts of Creekside Town, where Leo found me. I was not born a Pokémon, but sometime after my transformation I became attracted to you when we first met.”

            Annika allowed Alyssa some time to mentally process what she had just been told. Then Alyssa opened her mouth to say, “Ok… I don’t think that you are crazy, Annika. I know that you must be telling me this because you want to be honest with me. …I can tell you that I still am attracted to you, even if you were once human.”

            Annika nodded and then told Alyssa, “Those are my memories. I would never lie to you, my love.”

            Alyssa nodded and then smiled at Annika. She then said, “Yes, the whole thing sounds confusing, but I am certainly glad that you came here. I would hate to live in a world where we never met. Also, who knows how we would have taken the Reavers down without the CAS. We would have had to move a lot more AML Pokémon down to Creekside and back, at least.”

            Annika simply nodded at Alyssa, and then Alyssa decided to ask her, “What did you look like as a human girl?”

            Annika realized that she had never been asked that question by anyone she had met since her transformation. She was able to answer that question, however. She told Alyssa, “I was never that pretty. I had short orange hair and was of medium height. I was pretty scrappy, actually. I was never very well-fed or muscular.”

            Alyssa nodded and then replied, while chuckling a bit, “Well, I find you quite pretty now. I was just curious if you were considered to be a great beauty as a human. Anyway, thank you for sharing your secret with me. I think that what happened to you just proves that there are more supernatural forces still active in our universe.”

            Annika shrugged her shoulders and then said to Alyssa, “Thank you for your understanding. Anyway, it is getting darker out. Should we head back to the camp?”

            Alyssa nodded no and then said, “Don’t get too many ideas, but I feel safe out here with you.” She then leaned in and passionately kissed Annika.

            Annika reciprocated Alyssa’s kiss and then the two of them fell into each other’s arms. The two of them made out for quite some time and then, somewhat tired, they fell asleep in each other’s arms. Annika and Alyssa both drifted off to sleep while laid down on the grassy plain.


	30. The Cavernous Tunnels

            When Annika awoke, she saw Alyssa standing over her looking away. Upon closer inspection, it looked to Annika like Alyssa was watching the sunrise. Annika stood up and then Alyssa turned around to face her.

Alyssa smiled at Annika and then said, “Good morning. I knew that we would probably be safe out here. Shall we return to the camp?”

Annika smiled back at Alyssa and then replied, “Assuming you don’t want to run away together now?” The look on Annika’s face making it pretty clear that, as nice as she thought the idea was, she knew it was not going to become a reality.

Alyssa laughed a bit and then sighed. She then told Annika, “We both have responsibilities that prevent us from being together for the time being. However, I intend to speak with Hierophant Lucius about the possibility of him entrusting me with setting us a new AML community somewhere to the south of here. Hopefully, that will put me in a position where I can see you far more often.”

Annika replied, as the pair began walking back to the camp, “You know as well as I do that I cannot leave my organization and my friends. The Creekside Adventurers’ Society needs to stay based in Creekside Town. I still wish you the best of luck with trying to convince Lucius to give you a chance to be in a place where you can visit me more often. I will miss you, as I have previously.”

Alyssa nodded and then said, “I will miss you as well, Annika. You can rest assured that I am committed to the idea of being with you at this point. That is why I will do whatever I can to both comply with my own duties and put myself in a place closer to you.”

As the pair neared the AML camp, Annika suggested, “If only you could establish an AML branch in Creekside Town proper. It is one of this island’s most prosperous settlements, from what I know. It seems like as good of a place as any for your faith to expand into.”

Alyssa nodded and then told Annika, “We should probably split off now. You should return to Twopeak Town and meet up with your friends again. I will return to my duties with Lucius. …We will see each other again. I am sure of it!”

            Annika sighed deeply, already beginning to feel the ache she had felt when Alyssa had last left her returning. Then, she embraced Alyssa one more time and said, “I love you, never forget that. Remember that, no matter what happens, as long as you can find me, I would do anything for you!”     

            Alyssa simply nodded as a small number of tears ran down her face. She then was able to tear herself away from Annika’s embrace. After briefly kissing Annika’s lips, she ran back towards the camp.

            As Annika stood out in the middle of the grassy northern plains, she thought, “Maybe she knew that if she stayed with me for too much longer, she would not be able to leave?”

            Annika then watched Alyssa disappear into the distance. She then sighed and began her lonely trek back to Twopeak Town.

            When Annika arrived in Twopeak Town, she returned to the inn where she had been staying and was able to regroup with her four comrades. At lunch, she told the others about the time she had spent with Alyssa and her continuing determination to have a life with her eventually.

            As the CAS members were finishing up lunch, Marcy said, “At least you were able to spend some time with your love. As for my time at the AML camp, I did meet with Lucius and was able to both thank him for his actions in defeating the Reavers and also learn a decent bit about his religion. After the meeting concluded, I was allowed to eat at the camp and then return to town.”

            Sapphire then asked, “Leo and I had quite a nice night out last evening. We really enjoyed ourselves. Now, what is our next move, Annika?”

            Annika told her comrades, “We are going to speak with Joshua about taking on his new contract. We will see if we can establish contact with the underground village that he spoke of. If we can complete that assignment successfully, we will then make a beeline back to Creekside Town afterwards. We will want to see how Drake and Linda have been doing back home as soon as possible, anyways.”

            Annika’s four companions all nodded and then Ryan suggested, “We should head out now and take the contract from Joshua. …Annika, I think that you will end up with Alyssa. Of course, I know that you won’t give up on her. I know you too well to think that you would cease pursuing the one you love.”

            Annika blushed as Leo, Sapphire and Marcy all nodded. Then, Leo said, “Lets’ move out. We will want to take care of this job and then find our way home. Those of us who have families in Creekside Town have not seen them in too long.”

            The CAS members then set off across Twopeak Town to reach the IMC office. Once there, they found Joshua, who asked them, “Hello again, are you here for further work?”

            Annika nodded yes and then said, “Yes, we would like to take on the contract to investigate that underground village you talked about before. We will be heading south, back to Creekside, after we finish this job for you, however.”

            Joshua smiled at the CAS members and then told them, “I will give you a map that shows where the cave entrance is that should put you close to where the village is supposed to be. I will also give you the tunnel map that you will need. I heard that the place you are going to be looking for was called Caverndeep Village once. Just be careful, if you are able to find the place. The locals may not have had outside contact for quite some time and they were not the friendliest Pokémon to begin with, as I may have said before.”

            Annika nodded as Joshua was able to retrieve the maps he had mentioned and hand them over to the CAS members. After looking the maps over briefly and making sure that they were packed, Annika said, “We should be able to reach the entrance to the tunnel within a day. We will leave tomorrow morning.”

            Joshua nodded and then told the CAS Pokémon, “Good luck down there. Seeing what I know you all are capable of; you should be fine.”

            Annika thanked Joshua for his vote of confidence and then, the CAS members went out to make sure that they had enough supplies packed for their mission. After resting the night in their inn rooms, the five CAS Pokémon set out the next morning.

            The trip southwest to the cavern network’s entrance was relatively uneventful for the CAS members. They had to fend off a few hostile wild Pokémon groups on their way, but that was nothing that the experienced explorers could not easily handle.

            That evening, Annika’s team made their camp outside of the gaping entrance to the cave network. The morning after that, they began their descent into the fungi-lit tunnel network, Leo was in charge of holding the map, Annika led the way and Marcy, Ryan and Sapphire were all right behind her.

            The five CAS Pokémon followed their map for what felt like hours, only having to battle small groups of wild Pokémon on occasion. As they seemed to be nearing their destination, they entered a large open cave with a number of passages heading out of it. When they reached the center of the cave, the CAS members heard what sounded like a rumbling in the tunnels. Marcy shouted, “I would know if that was an earthquake! I think we are dealing with…”

            Annika and the others watched as a horde of Larvitar poured out of a number of the tunnels, followed by a Pupitar floating above them. Marcy Mega-Evolved, as Ryan and Sapphire both grinned and began firing elemental attacks into the advancing swarm.

            Marcy cloaked her head scythe in dark energy and slashed into a Larvitar while Leo fired a series of star-shaped bolts of pure energy into the swarm.

Annika shouted, “I will try to down their leader!” She then fired a pulse of frozen air into the Pupitar.

The airborne Pupitar retaliated by summoning and dropping a cascade of rocks onto the CAS members. The Larvitar began to close in and deliver bites to the CAS Pokémon at the same time.

As Sapphire, Ryan, Leo and Marcy kept up dispatching the Larvitar at a relatively fast rate. Annika shouted, “Try to split up! We need to be wary of another rock bombardment!”

Annika then remembered something that Alyssa had once done in combat. As her allies started to make a dent in the Larvitar swarm, Annika leaped onto a Larvitar’s head and then ran over the heads of three more enemies, before leaping into the air and hacking into the Pupitar with a dark energy claw strike. Annika then grabbed onto the Pupitar, who began to have trouble staying in the air.

As Annika’s allies kept up blasting the Larvitar swarm, Annika grappled with the Pupitar and did her best to climb onto his body, while striking with her claws.

The Pupitar shook violently in the air, even bashing Annika against a nearby wall. Annika’s response was to dig in with metallic claw blades and wound the Pupitar further.

The Larvitar began to lose a significant number of their force when Sapphire switched to opening up with her sonic cry attack. She knocked out a number of them out at once. The Pupitar proceeded to get blasted by a precision leaf shot from Ryan. Annika held on as her grappled foe hit the ground. She then finished him with another dark energy imbued claw strike.

            Then, Annika began to slice into the, now being pushed back, Larvitar using her metallic claw blades. It was not long until the Larvitar that remained were scrambling back to their tunnels, clearly unwilling to face the CAS members any longer.

            As Marcy’s Mega-Evolution wore off, she said, “That was pretty cool, and pretty daring, Annika. Where did you learn to do that?”

            Annika grinned and blushed a bit, saying, “I learned it from watching Alyssa during a fight, which Drake also participated in, within the Golden Forests.”

            Sapphire then added, “Either way, that was pretty cool, even if you did get bashed against a cliff wall for your bravery.”

            As the five CAS Pokémon were about to leave the cave and continue their advance towards where they believed Caverndeep Village was, they heard the noise that sounded like footsteps on the ground coming from a tunnel that no enemies had previously emerged from. Annika and her teammates prepared themselves for action, as a single male Skorupi emerged into the cave.

            Annika and her teammates seemed ready to fight as the Skorupi looked the group over and then politely asked, “So, which one of you is in charge? The one of you with wings or the one of you with fire-holes in his back?”

            As everyone looked a bit confused, the Skorupi continued, “Oh…sorry for my rudeness. I have never seen most of your species before, so I cannot name them correctly. Also, my name is Rocco, sorry for not introducing myself immediately. So, would you be so kind as to tell me which of you is the leader and where you all come from?”

            Annika stepped forward and looked Rocco in the eyes. She then said, “My name is Annika, I am the leader of this group. We come from a place called Creekside Town which is decently far from here. We have been hired to locate and make contact with a place called Caverndeep Village. Do you know of it?”

            Rocco staggered back a bit and then responded, “In Creekside Town, females can be leaders? That is so exotic! Both cool and strange at the same time, not like it’s as crazy as legal… anyway, yes I actually live in Caverndeep Village. I was on my usual patrol when I heard the sounds of combat coming from the place where we knew the wild Larvitar nests had recently been established. Thanks for getting rid of those for us.”

            Marcy then stepped forward and asked Rocco, “You are from Caverndeep Village, so you must know where it is from here. We would like for you to take us there so that we can speak with whoever is in charge.”

            Rocco looked moderately uneasy and then thought for a moment, he then said, “Fine, I will see if I can take you to see Patriarch Isiah. However, we have not had foreign visitors in quite some time. I will have to make sure that the guards let you in. I am only doing this because I have never met foreigners before and because you all severely weakened the Larvitar nests. Follow me.”

            Despite their skepticism, Annika and her teammates followed Rocco through a few more tunnels, until they reached the entrance to a truly massive underground cavern. Annika saw an underground river, a series of small farms and a small village of mostly stone buildings all present in a cavern lit by a plethora of luminescent fungus colonies on the walls and ceilings of the cave.

            As she looked the scene over, Annika wondered how Pokémon living in the caverns knew when to sleep and when to be awake without the sun being at all visible.

            As the group of six Pokémon, with Rocco in the lead, walked over to Caverndeep proper, they were stopped by a pair of male Ninjask. One of whom sternly asked, “Rocco, who are these Pokémon?”

            Rocco nervously replied “They are outsiders who come from a place called Creekside Town. They defeated most of the Larvitar in the nests by themselves! They also wish to meet with our leader for some reason. They were contracted to do so by someone on the surface, it seems.”

            The other Ninjask then asked, “Who among them is the leader? Also, why exactly do they want to meet with our Patriarch?”

            Annika then said, “As hard as it might be for you to believe this, I am the leader of our group We were contracted while in Twopeak Town to find your village and see if you would be open to mutually beneficial trade relations with our client on the surface.”

            The Ninjask looked confused that Annika was doing the talking and then the first one of them said, “We may have need of external allies after the… Yes, you may take them to see the Patriarch. Just take them to see him by as direct a route as possible.”

            Rocco nodded and then told the CAS members, “Follow me. Isiah will hopefully be able to speak with you.”

            Annika and her four teammates were allowed to follow Rocco past the Ninjask. They were then led through the settlement to a large, domed, stone building at the center of the village.


	31. Caverndeep Village

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey readers, I will be too busy to post a new chapter tomorrow morning. Instead, I am posting it tonight. I will post the next chapter next Tuesday, as usual, almost certainly. Thank you all for reading.

            After Rocco spoke to a unit of four Geodude guards outside of the large stone building in the center of Caverndeep Village, he was allowed to lead Annika and her four comrades inside. Upon entering the large domed structure, Annika could see two smaller areas, one which looked like a dining room and the other which appeared to be a treasury. Each smaller area was offset by series of columns. The main hall of the building, which was more directly underneath the dome, had a large stone throne, which was encrusted with large gems, at that back of it. A pair of male Nosepass stood motionless as guards in front of the throne. Sitting on the throne itself was an elderly-looking male Golem.

            Rocco did his best to bow to the Golem and say to him, “Patriarch Isiah, I found these foreigners outside of our village. They were able to clear out most of the Larvitar nests, which we had been concerned about, with little trouble.”

            Isiah looked down at Rocco and then, somewhat sternly asked him, “Why did you bring them into the village and then before me? Do they seek to be resupplied on their journey?”

            Rocco nodded no and then continued, “No, they actually were paid by someone in a place called Twopeak Town to venture down here and make contact with us. They wanted to be brought before you, sire.”

            Isiah stroked his chin and then responded, “I know of Twopeak Town. We have not heard from them for quite some time. So, foreigners, what are your names and why have you come to speak with us?”

            All five of the CAS members introduced themselves. Then, Annika stepped up, visibly surprising the previously motionless Nosepass guards, but not Isiah and said, “Patriarch Isiah, we are actually from the port of Creekside Town to the south of here. We were hired, while having just finished an expedition which had taken us to Twopeak Town, to come down to your village. We are to see if we can convince you of the possibility of your opening up trade relations with our client, and possibly other entities, on the surface.”

            Isiah stroked his chin again and then said, “I see that many surface Pokémon societies still allow females greater privileges than we do down here. With regard to the matter of trade, there are certainly plenty of commodities that we would want down here that are difficult for us to obtain. Likewise, I assume that we have an abundance of goods that your clients and others may want to use. I think that your offer could be acceptable to us…however, there is one favor that we want in return.”

            Annika then asked, “What is the favor, sir?”

            Isiah responded, “In a shrine just out of the village proper, we held our most scared treasure, an ancient gem with the appearance of lava flowing through it. We had been in communal possession of that treasure for centuries. It is the only gem of its kind that we know of to exist in the whole world. However, within the last month, while most of the village was asleep, the gem was stolen. We never suspected such a thing would happen, so the shrine was usually not guarded. When we went to investigate, it was clear that someone had tunneled into and out of the area, rather than approach through a pre-existing tunnel. We still have no clue who stole our prized gem and why they stole it. The favor you must do for us is simple, if you ever locate the gem, you must steal it back and return it to us!”

            Annika then asked, “How will we know it when we see it? Also, why do your trust us to return the gem to you if we find it?”

            Isiah nodded and then told the CAS members, “So that you are able to identify the gem if you ever come across it and so that you are more easily obligated to return it here, we will send someone with you to return to your client and accompany you from there on out.”

            Annika looked a bit concerned as Isiah then continued, “Rocco, you have never been as comfortable with living in our isolated community as the majority of us. I am assigning you to go with these explorers and make sure that if they ever find the Lava Gem, they obtain it and return it to our village. You will be free to help them in whatever other tasks they want your assistance in for the duration of your mission.”

            Rocco actually seemed quite excited. As Annika sighed a bit, he exclaimed, “I will do my best not to let any of you down! I will get myself packed as soon as I can!”

            Annika asked Isiah, “Could we see the shrine before we leave. Just in case we find anything useful there?”

            Isiah nodded yes and then told Rocco, “Once you are packed, take these five to the shrine. Then, you may use the old access tunnel to get back to Twopeak Town faster than you would following the convoluted route they took to get here. Understood?”

            Rocco nodded yes enthusiastically and then said, “I hear you loud and clear, sire! Ok, everyone, follow me. After I am packed, I will take you to the shrine and from there, back to the surface!”

            Isiah then finished, “You may tell your client that they made use the, currently hidden, access tunnel to send a party to meet with us about trade negotiations. Rocco will make sure to reveal it, after you all use it. Rocco, just remember to be wary of the sand pits just off of part the access tunnel.”

            Rocco nodded and then motioned for the five CAS Pokémon to follow him.

            After getting packed up at his apartment, Rocco lead the CAS members out of Caverndeep Village and towards a small, pristine looking, roofed marble shrine. Upon reaching the shrine, the CAS members could see that it was pretty obvious that something had been removed from the structure. Also, a place where some earth had been collapsed to cover up a tunnel was clearly visible just adjacent to the shrine.

            After spending some time looking around the shrine, Marcy said, “It does look like someone burrowed into the area, stole the gem and then left through the same tunnel that they had made before.”

            Leo added, “The gem’s mount indicates that it was actually quite big, like bigger than most of us were, pre-evolution. So, maybe there were multiple Pokémon involved in the theft?”

            Ryan then asked, “I wonder who would have known about the gem who could have then stolen it? This place is so isolationist that it seems unclear.”

            Rocco then chimed in, “The Patriarch had the village heavily searched to see if any locals had stolen the gem for themselves. It would be hard to hide it due to its size, and the way it often glows with energy. Apparently, when it was first discovered they thought it was an oversized Fire Stone. That was disproven very quickly, though. We do believe that the gem was stolen by outsiders. We just do not know who exactly stole it.”            

            Annika nodded and then said, “We should head back to the surface soon. However, we should rest first. I assume that there are no inns in this village?”

            Rocco somewhat guiltily nodded yes and then said, “Maybe there will be someday. Anyway, we will have to make a camp nearby the access tunnel entrance, which I will lead you to now.”          

            The six Pokémon made their way over to the entrance to the old and underused access tunnel and then camped there. The nest day, with Rocco leading the way, the six Pokémon began their trek north through the tunnel.

            The trip through the tunnel was mostly uneventful, there were nearly no wild Pokémon inside of it. However, the six Pokémon group eventually discovered an area where there seemed to be clouds of sand obscuring the way forward. Rocco told the others, “We are going to have to be careful here. The sand can be itchy and nasty… and last time I checked it was not blowing through the air like this?”

            At that point, the CAS members all heard a roaring sound and a group of four Hippopotas emerged from the sand. As the four wild Pokémon charged at the team, Rocco leapt back and began firing off a bombardment of barbs into the attackers.

            Annika targeted a foe that Rocco had weakened and dropped her with a pulse of frozen air. Leo ignited his back flames and then charged into the fray. Ryan tried to launch some leafy daggers into the enemies, missing a few times due to the sandstorm. Marcy charged in and used her head scythe to strike an enemy. Lastly, Sapphire used a blast of water to down the Hippopotas who Marcy had weakened.

            The remaining two Hippopotas bit into Leo and slammed into Marcy respectively as the ground began to rumble. Leo was then knocked back and nearly rendered unconscious as a female Hippowdon burst from the ground and attacked him.

            Annika stood in front of Leo, as Rocco rained barbs at the Hippopotas Marcy was fighting. Annika then launched a point-blank frozen air pulse into the hostile leader and bared her claws.

            As Leo tried to get up, Sapphire rushed over to him while firing off bubbles streaks into one of the Hippopotas. Ryan finished the enemy that Sapphire had just injured and then fell back to try to assist Annika.

            The Hippowdon charged her fangs with fire and then rushed at Annika, who flipped up over her opponent and then landed behind her. The charging Hippowdon ended up biting into Rocco quite hard.

As Rocco recoiled in pain, Marcy finished the Hippopotas she had been fighting with a dark energy cloaked scythe slash and then rushed at the Hippowdon, after Mega-Evolving.

Annika, Ryan and Sapphire all directed their ranged attacks into the Hippowdon, allowing Rocco to point-blank fire a series of four barbs into the opponent. Finally, the Hippowdon slumped to the ground, defeated.

The sandstorm quickly began to abate with the final foe vanquished. Ryan began to glow brightly as he said, “We should keep moving…”

Ryan evolved from Dartrix to Decidueye right after he stopped talking.

As Sapphire was helping Leo to recover, she began to glow brightly as well. Sapphire evolved from Brionne to Primarina as she helped Leo to his feet.

Annika walked over to Leo and then waved a claw over his face, asking him, “Are you ok?”

Leo drooled a bit and then shook his head rapidly. He then said, “I thought that I was dead and in some paradise afterlife…Sapphire you look…wow!”

Sapphire blushed and then noted, “Leo, my mother looks like this. It’s not like you did not know that I could turn into this form one of these days.”

Ryan then remarked, “It seems like Leo was the first of us to evolve once, but will be the last to evolve twice. That is kind of odd.”

Annika then nodded and ordered, “Rocco, lead the way. I want to be back on the surface ASAP!”

Rocco nodded and then responded, “Yes, ma’am! I just hope that seeing the sun for the first time does not blind me. I have heard that it is very bright.”

            Rocco then got back to leading the way. Eventually, the CAS members could see some streaks of light coming in from the end of the tunnel. As they neared the end of the tunnel, Rocco asked, “So, Leo and Sapphire, are you two a couple? I am starting to get that feeling from you two?”

            Sapphire replied, before Leo could open his mouth, “We are dating, yes. But we have not gotten too close to each other… yet.”

            Rocco nodded and then responded, “Ok, I never had a girlfriend before. I did always want to get married, though.”

            Ryan then added, “I think that my boss in the Creekside Scouts back home might be into me. Wait until she sees my evolution.”

            Marcy then mentioned, “I once had a lover, but he was killed in front of me… thankfully his murderer was killed by the boss of…”

            Annika then finished for Marcy, “My girlfriend’s boss killed Marcy’s lover’s murderer. We have a lot to catch you up on if you are to be working with us, Rocco.”

            Rocco, just looked up at Annika and then said, “So... homosexuality is legal in Creekside Town? Oh, wow, the surface sure is a lot less conservative then Caverndeep is. Where I come from, we are told that homosexuals are evil and unnatural. Anyone caught being intimate with another member of the same sex is exiled from the community!”

            Annika looked a bit disgusted and then told Rocco, “Well, if you are to be living on the surface, get used to it. In fact, Drake, the CAS member who is hopefully running our base now, is also homosexual.”

            Rocco simply nodded and then responded, “Look, Annika, you are my new boss. I do not want to make you angry. I never liked being cooped up in Caverndeep anyway, that is why I took patrol duty so often. Didn’t you see how excited I was when I got official permission to leave the village? I want to do a good job as a member of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society.”

            Leo then added, “It is a dangerous, but potentially lucrative business. It is better and easier when you have friends around, I will say that.”    

            Annika nodded and then awkwardly added, “I probably should not have said what I just said about Drake. I was angry.”      

            At that point, the CAS members reached the boulder blocking the tunnel’s exit. They then pushed it out of the way together and stepped into the sun.

            Rocco took a few moments to adjust, at first clearly having trouble seeing in the bright light. Once he could see more effectively, the CAS members realized that they had come out right next to the river that flowed next to Twopeak Town. The six Pokémon then followed the river south and were able to reach their inn. Once there, they decided to get Rocco a room, rest the night and report back to Joshua the next morning, before beginning the trek back home to Creekside Town.


	32. Returning to Creekside Town

            The next morning, the CAS Pokémon, now numbering six with the addition of Rocco, walked over to the Twopeak Town IMC office. Once there, they walked inside, and met up with Joshua.

            Joshua looked over the six CAS Pokémon and asked, “It seems like you have added one more member since I last saw you all?”

            Annika nodded and then explained, “Rocco here is an actual resident of Caverndeep Village. He is with us as part of an arrangement we made with the Patriarch of the settlement. We were also given access to a tunnel, which we can direct you to, that makes traveling from this town to Caverndeep Village easier. It opens up nearby the river. We pushed the boulder that was in front of it out of the way.”

            Joshua then nodded and responded, “That all sounds quite good. Is the Patriarch of Caverndeep open to the possibility of trade with us?”

            Rocco then spoke up to say, “Patriarch Isiah of Caverndeep Village is willing to open up trade with your company and possibly other entities in the future. You will have to send representatives to meet with him in order to work out the details, however.”

            Joshua seemed very pleased with what Rocco told him. He then began to hand out the payment bags that he had reserved for the CAS Pokémon. As he was doing so, he said, “I will get to contacting my superiors as soon as you all leave. You have done good work for us once again. Thank you for your efforts. I will try to have a new expedition assembled to go and contact the leadership of Caverndeep Village within the next two weeks. I know that you all are heading out south for Creekside after this, but I hope that our organizations can do good business in the future again.”

            Annika nodded at Joshua once the CAS Pokémon had received their pay for the mission. She then said, “We will now be taking our leave of you. We have a long journey home ahead of us.”

            Joshua nodded and then he had Annika pinpoint the area on a map where the access tunnel entrance they had used to exit the underground caverns was. Then, the CAS members all left the building and returned to their inn.

            After eating briefly, the six Pokémon all set out south for Creekside Town.

            The returning CAS members spent the next few days traveling south around the mountain and then, after staying at the local inn run by Peter and Lisa, they began their second trek through the desert-like wastelands.

As they were on their way south through the wastes, on their third day of trekking through the sandy expanse, Rocco said, “Guys, I think I just saw a plant move more than the usual blowing in the wind.”        

Ryan, who was scouting from the air, then mentioned, “Come to think of it, there are a number of fly-trap like plants around here. I thought those only existed in jungles.”

At that point, Annika realized that the group had walked into an area surrounded by around eight fly-trap like plants. It was not long until the plants began to levitate off of the ground and move in to encircle Annika’s force.

Marcy shouted, “It’s a group of Carnivine! They are trying to encircle and trap us!”

            The Carnivine began to hungrily advance on Annika’s team. Rocco responded by spitting a powerful blast of poisonous liquid from his mouth, which severely wounded one of the Carnivine. Annika then finished the enemy off with a blast of frozen air from her claws.

            As Marcy Mega-Evolved and charged a Carnivine with one of her head scythe attacks, Leo used a flaming cartwheel to rush another set of foes. Sapphire bombarded another pair of enemies with her vocal assault while Ryan landed and then used his wings like a bow and arrow to shoot a spectral dart into a Carnivine.  

            The Carnivine managed to wound Sapphire with vines extending from their bodies. Leo took a few bites from the foes’ teeth and Rocco had to fall farther back in order to down a weakened enemy with a barrage of barbs safely.

            With the Carnivine losing some of their number, Marcy bit down into the core of an enemy’s body. The pain from the attack slowed the foe down enough the Annika was able to hit and down him with an icy blast.

            Leo then cartwheeled into some of the Carnivine that Ryan and Sapphire had weakened with their attacks, downing two of them.

The final unit of three Carnivine then started to beat a retreat, however a barrage of ranged attacks from the CAS unit dropped two of them and then Marcy leapt on top of the final foe and hacked down into the top of her head. As the Carnivine tried to grab Marcy, Ryan aimed an “arrow” between the foe’s eyes and then sniped her down.

Marcy jumped off of the Carnivine as she fell, and then landed on all four of her feet. Rocco then said, “Well, that is one less pack of predatory wild Pokémon the world has to deal with. Shall we advance further south?”

Annika laughed a bit and then replied, “Yes we shall. What else would we do, anyway?”

Rocco looked a bit awkward as the CAS group prepared to continue their trip south.

As the CAS members were getting back into formation, Leo began to glow, saying, “Alright, it’s about time!” Leo then evolved from Quilava to Typhlosion.

After finishing his evolution, Leo looked down and then at his hands. He then said, “Wow, I feel…a whole lot taller.”

Ryan nodded, indicating his concurrence as Sapphire said to Leo, “You look quite handsome. Anyway, we should get moving now. I want to get home within the next few days.”

Annika then got back to leading the way as the CAS members got back to the road and kept moving south.   

It was only the next day after their Carnivine fight when the six CAS members reached the small town on the edge of the wastelands, and Pauline’s inn, during the late evening. They were all able to rest at the inn and then set off for Creekside Town the next morning.

            After another three days of travel, Annika and her teammates reached Creekside Town late one evening, tired and drained. The various Pokémon headed back to their respective homes, accept for Rocco who simply followed Annika back to the CAS base. Annika used her key to unlock the front door. Then, she walked inside and told Rocco to put away everything they had brought back in the storage room, including Annika’s share of the two-part expedition’s earnings.

            After Rocco went to sleep his first night in Creekside Town in the CAS storage room, Annika went to fall asleep in her own bed for the first time in a while. While she missed Alyssa, she considered it important for her to be back in what she now considered her hometown.

            The next morning, Annika woke up and then walked into the main room of the CAS base to hear a female voice asking, “Annika, why is there a Skorupi sleeping in our storage room?”

            Annika looked up to see a Togetic hovering in front of her. Annika then got a bit startled, rubbed her eyes and asked, “Linda? Is that you? Where is Drake?”

            Linda simply nodded and then said, “Drake took me on plenty of jobs around town while you all were away. I gained plenty of combat experience and even evolved. Also, I might be moving into my own small apartment soon with all the money I made on our jobs. As for where Drake is now, he is in his little house nearby Ryan’s family’s home. He should be over here soon. Now that that is out of the way, what about the Skorupi?”

            Annika sighed and then told Linda, “That is just Rocco, he is our newest member. At least until we possibly do something for the elder of his home village. However, that something may never come up.”

            Linda looked surprised and then replied, “Ok, I guess that we now have eight members. You, Leo, Sapphire, Ryan, Drake, Marcy, Rocco and myself. That means that we will have two full teams of Pokémon to send out on missions in the future!”

            Annika nodded yes and then said, “I don’t know what Leo, Sapphire and Marcy will be up to today, but I assume that Ryan will have a hell of a report to file with Serena. I wonder what she will think of his evolution? Hopefully Drake will come in soon. I will want to check in with him.”

            Rocco soon woke up and then politely introduced himself to Linda. After the three CAS members in the base ate some breakfast, Drake, who was still a Noibat, arrived at the base.

            As Drake walked in the front door of the base, Rocco asked, “Annika, is this Drake, the other homosexual in the CAS?”

            Drake heard what Rocco had said and then looked over to him and over at Annika and simply asked, “Who is this guy? I saw that Ryan was back, and now fully evolved, this morning, so I assumed you all had managed to get back home safely.”

            Annika gave Rocco a quick glare. He then awkwardly backed up a bit. She then told Drake, “This is Rocco, he joined us while we were up north. He is actually decently handy in a fight. …He also comes from a very backwards culture and is hopefully in a process of recovery from his upbringing, right?”

            Rocco looked a bit guilty and then nodded yes, saying, “I don’t seem to have much tact about these things. I have never been in a place with legal homosexuality before… sorry?”

            Drake then nodded briefly at Rocco and asked Annika, “How did the expedition go otherwise? Did the entire squad make it back?”

            Annika smiled at Drake and then replied, “Yes, we had no permanent casualties. We escorted our two clients to the volcano and then they did their survey with some major help from Marcy. We met Rocco on a mission we completed for the IMC while we were in the area. I also was able to see Alyssa once again.”

            Drake then told Annika and Rocco, “I was able to give Linda here some crash training, as you requested. She may not be at the same level of experience as the rest of us, be she should be able to survive in a decent fight now. She can also use a few interesting attacks now that I have trained her up a decent bit. I also got some decent experience while taking the lead on a number of small local jobs. Now that we have all of our members back at base, plus two more, we should be able to get quite a lot done, should the need arise.”

            Annika nodded and then told Rocco, “You may have to get Creekside Citizenship in order to stay here. However, that was not an issue for Marcy or Drake. You can explain your situation to the Patrician, or another key official, later on. For now, we will find a way for you to get a semi-permanent room to stay at the Creekside Tavern inn.”

            Rocco nodded over at Annika and then he said, “Will do, I will follow your advice on this, ma’am.”

            Drake then admitted, “He at least seems to behave like a good soldier. Anyway, why don’t we try to have a meeting of our society’s members tomorrow, maybe over dinner, to catch up?”

            Annika smiled at Drake and nodded enthusiastically, saying, “That sounds like a solid idea to me. We will alert everyone to that plan and see each other for dinner tomorrow evening.”

            Annika spent the day taking Rocco around Creekside Town with Linda while Drake took care of running the base. After that, Linda was sent around, now that she could fly, to alert all of the other CAS members to the fact that they would all be having dinner together the next evening.

            Annika was left alone to sleep in the CAS base that evening, after concluding Rocco’s tour of Creekside Town by getting him a room of his own at the Creekside Tavern. She fell asleep in a decent mood, her biggest concern being whether or not she would be close to Alyssa again soon.


	33. The Adventurers’ Society Re-United

            The day after the CAS members’ first full day back in Creekside Town after the organization’s longest expedition yet, Annika woke up from a long and restful sleep. She then ate breakfast, while thinking of Alyssa and whether or not she would eventually be able to convince Lucius to allow for the creation of a new AML branch closer to, or inside of, Creekside Town.

            When Annika had just finished up her breakfast, she saw Ryan fluttering through the skylight of the CAS base. Ryan landed, as gracefully as he could, in front of Annika. He then smiled at her and informed her, “I just came by to let you know that after reporting back to and speaking with Wing-Commander Serena, I was told that because Rocco is a citizen of another Settlement who is here on a special arrangement with our adventurers’ society, he might be entitled to stay in this town indefinitely.”

            Annika replied, “That is actually good news. That will make things slightly easier for us if the Patrician approves that plan. It also seems as though Drake and Linda took care of any and all jobs that they received while we were away for around three weeks. So, we have no immediate missions to deal with, at the moment.”

            Ryan nodded his head and then told Annika, “I heard yesterday that we are to all have an organizational dinner tonight. Is that correct?”

            Annika nodded yes and then told Ryan, “That is right. I want to make sure that all eight members of our organization are all caught up on what is going on, now that we are back from the expedition and Linda is an active CAS member.”

            Ryan then responded, “I understand, where we will go out tonight, then?”

            Annika thought for a moment and then said, “I think that there is an upscale restaurant on the north end of the residential area just south of the Government District. Could you get us a reservation there for tonight and then we can all walk over there from here?”

            Ryan enthusiastically nodded yes and then responded, “I have been there as part of Scout department events a few times before. So, I should be able to get them to reserve a long table. I think that restaurant even has some human-crafted tables and decorations, which they obtained from far away. It shows Creekside’s status as a trading port that we can obtain those kinds of goods, even if rarely and at great material cost.”

            Annika then told Ryan, “Go see if you can get the reservation taken care of. If you can do so successfully, then let the others know, so that we are all in on the exact plan for tonight.”

            Ryan saluted Annika with a wing and then flew up and out of the CAS base. Annika then made sure that the CAS base’s smaller sign outside was left in the open position. After taking care of that, Annika got out one of her unfinished wood bark carving projects, thinking, “I have not been able to work on this for quite a long time…. I wonder if Alyssa would like any of these?”

            That evening, Annika and her seven comrades set off from the CAS Headquarters and walked south, past the Creekside Government District, over to the restaurant where Ryan had made a reservation after his conversation with Annika. The CAS Pokémon were able to sit at one of the restaurant’s longer tables and discuss recent events. Everyone was filled in on: the expedition, Rocco and his past, and the missions that Drake and Linda had gone on. Annika did not bother to reveal her former humanity to either Linda or Rocco yet, especially since they were in public at the moment. Leo and Sapphire also revealed that the two of them had had their nicest date yet the last evening. They had also, similarly to Annika and Alyssa before, fallen asleep together after spending some time stargazing on the plains just south of town.

            After their group dinner, the CAS members all split up and made for their respective homes and places of temporary residence. Annika returned to her room in the CAS base and fell asleep there.

            The next day, early in the afternoon, Annika returned to the CAS base after having a private lunch out. When she returned to the base, she found Rocco standing outside the front door.

            After letting Rocco, and herself, inside the building, Annika asked Rocco, “What are you here for?”

            Rocco quickly responded to Annika, “I just wanted to let you know that after meeting with the local Watch Captain and Ryan’s boss, the Wing-Commander, I have been given approval to reside in Creekside Town without full citizenship. The arrangement will last for as long as I am an active member of the Creekside adventurers’ society. I had to deal with the whole ‘female in a position of power’ thing as best as I could when I was talking to Serena. However, talking to you gave me some good practice for my interaction with her. I know that that was not intentional, of course.”

            Annika could not help but roll her eyes a slight bit at what Rocco had just told her. She then replied, “I am glad that that potential problem is out of the way. It seems as though the Patrician was willing to delegate this case to his subordinates, rather than meet with you himself. He is probably just busy lately.”

            At that point. Drake flew in through the CAS base’s skylight. He then landed in front of Annika and Rocco. He seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. He then informed Annika, not paying too much attention to Rocco’s presence, “There was something important I forgot to tell you last night. I almost brought it up when Marcy talked about how the expedition had a near run-in with Articuno.”

            Annika asked, “What did you forget to tell me?”

            Drake, after catching his breath, responded, “Just a few days ago, Articuno was sighted in the skies over Creekside Town. She was flying south, it seemed. We do not know where she is now. However, it seems quite concerning to me that she has ventured south of the river. This is the first time since she became enraged that she has ventured this far south.”

            Rocco, who had heard a bit about Articuno before, said, “I can only assume that she did not bother to cause any trouble in this town because she realized that such a concentrated settlement would be a hard target, even for an entity like herself.”

            Drake nodded as Annika added, “Well, I hope that she just leaves this island, or calms down, or finds whoever she is searching for, sometime very soon. I am not sure if even all of our combined firepower could take down a creature like her?”

            Drake and Rocco both nodded in agreement with what Annika had just said and then the two of them both headed out for the day.

            The CAS members spent the next couple of weeks both resting at home after their successful expedition and taking care of a number of standard missions that came in over time. One afternoon, the day after completing a job, Annika was finishing up work on one of her wood carvings, while sitting behind the desk of the CAS base.

            As Annika was putting her newest finished work back in her room, she heard a knock on the front door. When Annika walked up to the front door and opened it, she saw Marcy awaiting her. Standing next to Marcy was a Steenee.

Marcy asked Annika, “Do we have any new mission requests at the moment? I am wondering because something has come up that is somewhat personal for me. I would like the help of the full CAS with this problem.”

Annika looked over to the Steenee and then replied, “What is this something? Does it have to do with your new companion here?”

As Annika allowed Marcy and her associate to come inside the CAS office, Marcy said, “This is Lena, she was one of the few survivors of my original home village. She has moved to Creekside and gained citizenship recently and has some important news that I think you should hear.”

Marcy then motioned to Lena with a paw and Annika seemed ready to listen after folding her arms and leaning back against the base’s desk. Lena nodded and then told Annika, “After my home village’s population was mostly wiped out by the Reavers, during our failed attempt to drive them away for good, my mother and I set off north for Creekside. Some other survivors kept tracking the Reavers, looking for an opportunity for revenge. We were able to keep in touch with them, since the Reavers still concerned us. Of course, we learned of the successful raid that your society and the AML leadership pulled off in the Golden Forests, which finally slew Salen. However, a small Reaver force was allowed to break off from Salen’s cult and head west to the coastline south of here before your attack. The force of Pokémon that had been tracking them was attacked by this remnant of Reavers recently and only one of the trackers made it out. He recently arrived in town and told me what had happened. I then was able to learn about Marcy’s survival and her new status as a CAS member and find her at your friend Leo’s home. I told her what I knew and then we came directly over here.”

Marcy then added, “It seems like the Reaver remnants may not even have a new Templar. They seem to have made a camp on a beach southwest of here. From what I can tell, it seems to be just to the south of the town Drake said he came from. I do not know what their plan is, if they even have one. However, I would like to have us travel south and take this camp of Reaver survivors down!”

Annika thought for a moment and then said, “We will have to consult the full organization, I think. This would be a mission without a contract attached, for once. However, I do believe that we would be doing the world a favor by wiping out the Reaver Remnants. We don’t want them causing any more trouble, or taking any more lives.”

Marcy nodded back at Annika and then said to Lena, “Go tell your mother and the other survivor that I will inform them of the full society’s decision tomorrow at the latest.”

Lena nodded at Marcy. Then, she bowed to Annika and left the CAS office.

Annika told Marcy, “We will assemble out members as soon as possible. We will then vote on whether or not to take on this new mission, even if there is no contract attached.”

As Marcy and Annika were leaving the CAS base and Annika was locking the front door and changing the sign to the “closed” position, Marcy said, “This remaining Reaver cell may have some loot we can take. At the same time, we don’t know how many of them there are. They could have recruited some new members to the cult since they split off.”

Annika nodded and then added, “I wonder if they know about Salen’s defeat and death? Either way, I would hope that if all eight of us go, we will be able to deal with them.”

Marcy nodded and then the two of them set off into town.

That evening, after a quick dinner, all eight members of the CAS had crammed their way into their base of operations. Annika looked over her allies, honestly proud of what she had been able to build in the new world she had found herself in. She then began the meeting by saying, “Ok, everyone, you all have been briefed on the issue on the table. The question is, should we head out to the island’s western coastline and try to eliminate the Reaver Camp that has been set up south of Drake’s hometown. It should be a journey of around three days southwest across the plains to get there from here by land. The bigger issue being that this will not be a contracted mission. We will not necessarily be paid for our work this time. I will be abstaining for now, so that we have less likelihood of a tie vote. Now, how do all of you vote on this?”

Marcy began, “I obviously vote yes. I believe that we need to stop the remaining Reavers before they cause any more trouble.”      

            Drake then declared, “I vote yes with Marcy, as long as I get to go on this expedition. I still do not want to end up back in my hometown again, to be clear.”

            Linda added, “I vote yes because this would be my first major mission with you all. Also, from what I have heard, the Reavers are too dangerous to be kept around.”

            Leo then awkwardly said, “I vote no. We are technically a business organization and we work on a contract basis, unless there is an immediate threat of danger, like when we rescued Linda from the Gray Forests. If we can get a contract, or learn that the Reavers are actively harming civilized Pokémon, then I will agree to the mission.”

            Sapphire added, “I will vote with Leo. He does have a point.”

            Ryan pointed out, “As much as I want to help stop the Reavers, I will vote with my friends. However, I agree with Leo that there are certainly circumstances that could arise, which could lead us to take on the mission.”

            Rocco was the last to vote, he looked around the room and said, “I think I owe it to Drake, based on my inappropriate actions before, to vote with him. Also, I think that these Reavers are a menace that needs to be eradicated, from what I have heard of them.”

            Annika thought for a moment and then declared, “That is four to three in favor of us going to fight the Reaver Remnants at their camp. We will begin packing now and then depart early in the day tomorrow. We will give Marcy enough time to alert her friends of our decision and then be on our way.”

            The seven other CAS Pokémon accepted the result of the vote and then packing commenced. It was decided that the base would have to be closed for around a week, as the CAS members wanted to bring their whole force with them this time.

            After the CAS members’ packs were mostly filled up, everyone went home to rest the night before the next mission was to begin. Annika went to sleep, thinking that it would be great if the Reavers on the island were dealt with once and for all.


	34. The Reaver Remnants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas Eve Readers. ...I have decided to knock out posting the remainder of the story post haste, rather than posting it over the next three weeks. With no other stories lined up for now, I have decided to finish off this one so that I can have a break from posting until I am next able to finish a story. More author's notes to follow in the final chapters of this story.

            The next morning, Annika gave her teammates some time to make sure they were all packed. Marcy went to inform Lena, Lena’s mother and their fellow survivor that the CAS was off to take on the remnants of the late Salen’s Reaver Cult. When Marcy returned to the CAs base, she had with her a map with the last known position of the Reavers’ coastal camp marked on it. The survivor of the cult attack on the trackers had been able to supply Marcy with the map for the attack on the Reavers’ position.

            With her force of eight Pokémon assembled, Annika ordered, “Alright, I will march in the front with Marcy. Leo will follow behind us with Rocco, Sapphire will bring up the rear. Drake and Ryan will range out from us as our aerial recon. Linda, you will stay above Sapphire so that we always have close air support. Now, lets’ move out!”

            Annika and her seven allies set out for the coastal camp that morning, they spent the next few days traveling directly southwest across the grassy plains. They were able to rest one evening at an IMC camp, which had been set up to mine the cavern that the CAS had previously cleared. Due to the larger size of their unit, the CAS members were not engaged by many wild Pokémon on their way to their destination. The wild Pokémon they did fight were easily dealt with due to the experience and numbers of the CAS Pokémon.

            It was later in the evening a few days into the trip, when the CAS members were finally closing in on the position on their newest map where they believed the Reaver camp would be. Their belief in the presence of the Reavers was validated by two factors. One of those factors was the lack of wild Pokémon in the area surrounding a certain stretch of beach. Another, more obvious, factor was that the CAS Pokémon could clearly see a small series of tents and another couple of less discernable large objects on the coast, illuminated by a series of campfires.

            As the eight CAS Pokémon lay low in the tall grass near the camp, Annika quietly said, “We cannot tell the number of inhabitants in the area yet. However, there are only around five tents, plus those two objects on the shoreline. I assume that each tent can only hold around three Pokémon, so we are looking at around fifteen foes there at the maximum.”

            Marcy nodded and then said, “We need a plan… I suggest trying to even up the odds by going in quietly with stealth. Annika, could you cover me as I try to deal with the Pokémon keeping watch? Once they are down, we will begin our attack, much of the enemy will be asleep, or getting ready to fall asleep. Ryan, Drake, Linda, be ready to fly in first. Leo, Sapphire, Rocco come in from the ground and make sure that no Reavers escape the area.”

            Annika said to Marcy, “I do blend in well with the night air…. I will follow you and try to help you take out the watchmons quietly before our main force comes in.”

            Marcy nodded and then told Annika, “Stay low in the tall grass and follow me, if any of the enemies keeping watch survive my initial stealth attacks, take them out with an Icy pulse, or your claws, as quickly and quietly as you can.”

            As the other CAS members slowly began to move up towards the Reaver Remnants campsite, Annika crept behind Marcy as quickly as she could. The two females made their way closer to the Reaver encampment slowly and carefully, they did not want to be detected until they had thinned out their enemies.

            As the tall grass began to get a bit thinner, Marcy whispered back to Annika, “I can see the two structures on the water. I can now tell that they are medium sized boats that are under construction. These cultists are probably trying to build themselves vessels that they can use to escape the island after Salen’s death.”

            Annika nodded and then she replied, “I can only assume that we are getting closer to the camp. Let me know when you need my help.”

            Marcy simply nodded and then changed her direction and began to move forward more slowly.

            Annika followed Marcy closer to the light sources that she assumed had to be the Reavers’ campfires. Despite being closer, the lights were dimming. That caused Annika to assume that the campfires were burning out and would probably be put out soon.

            Marcy continued to creep closer to the Reaver camp. Annika followed closely behind her, doing her best not to give their position away to any enemies who might be present nearby.

            It was not long from then until Marcy stopped moving forward and whispered to Annika, “Be ready.”

            Marcy then crept up a bit, moving in such a way as to make almost no noise. Annika carefully peeked up from the grass to see that there was indeed a single Espurr standing in the tall grass just off from the beachside camp and peering out into the darkness.

            Annika saw that the Reaver Espurr was not looking in her direction. She then ducked back down and moved a bit forward. She saw that Marcy had gotten behind the foe while still covered by the grass. She then watched, as the fires continued to dim, as Marcy hacked into the foe’s legs with her energized head scythe. The Espurr hit the ground and was then finished by a second cut from Marcy before he could call for help.

            Marcy then crept back over to where Annika was and said, “There should be another foe keeping watch in the tall grass to the south of here. Follow me and we will take her down.”

            Annika nodded, impressed to finally see Marcy’s stealth skills in action. She then followed Marcy further south. They were now near the opposite side of the camp to the partially completed boats. Marcy told Annika, “Be ready, this Pokémon is a Gothorita, she is evolved and will probably be a harder target.”

            Marcy then crept around to try and get at the Gothorita from behind. Annika moved closer to the patrolling foe. She then froze as she saw the Gothorita walking towards where she was hidden by the tall grass.

            Annika looked up as the Gothorita staggered back slightly upon seeing her. During the foe’s brief state of shock, Marcy attacked from behind, biting into the Gothorita. The enemy cringed in pain as Annika attacked her foe’s feet with her claws, which she charged with the same black light that she had seen Marcy using on her head scythe. The Gothorita fell to her knees and was about to cry for help when Annika put a claw to her mouth. That allowed Marcy to knock her down to the ground, where Annika finished her with a barrage of rapid claw hacks.

            Marcy smiled at Annika and then said, “That takes care of two of their watchmons. Now, lets’ see if we can destroy those boats?”

            Annika nodded and then the two of them crawled through the grass over to the boats.

As Marcy and Annika neared the edge of the tall grass where it met the sand, the lights got dimmer. They then heard some voices calling out. Marcy seemed to listen in for a moment and then said, “They know something is up. Stay hidden for now…”

Annika interjected, “We cannot let them mobilize their forces. It is time to shut down this camp!”

            Annika stood up in the grass as Marcy said, “Try to snipe some of them, I will stay hidden for now and then engage any enemies who get into melee range with us.”

            Marcy remained hidden in the grass, as Annika sighted some of the Reavers moving about their camp. Annika then took aim at some of the enemies about closer to her position and began to fire icy pulses into them.

As the Reavers tried to find out where the attacks were coming from, Annika was able to down a Reaver Shiftry with a few shots, the last of which struck her foe in the head. At that point, the Reavers who had become active located Annika’s position and a few of them began to advance on it. Annika evaded a few ranged attacks and then saw a Reaver Wartortle leading his unit towards her. However, Marcy launched herself from the grass and began to bite and hack into the Wartortle, shouting, “For Sparks!”

The confused Reavers then took a barrage of leafy ranged attacks from Ryan and Linda, as they flew over the camp. Leo and Sapphire charged the campsite, while Rocco covered Annika and Marcy with a bombardment of barbs. Drake then flew over to nearby the Reavers’ campfires and generated a blast of wind from his wings to spread embers from the campfires. The embers began to ignite the various buildings in the camp.

As Drake was focused on destroying the camp, a final wave of Reavers emerged from their, now mostly burning, tents. Ryan and Linda passed over again, evading Reaver ranged attacks and delivered a second airstrike against the emerging enemies.

Annika kept up her sniping at the Reavers, as Marcy took down the enemy Wartortle. The enemy was now becoming confused and a bit panicked. They did not seem to have any obvious leader and they also were being attacked from three to four different directions at once.

            Leo and Sapphire took advantage of the Reavers’ confusion by attacking the camp and distracting cultists who were trying to drive Drake away from their buildings. Sapphire emitted a cloud of bubbles from her mouth, injuring a number of enemies. Leo blasted the Reavers with a series of rapid-fire star-shaped energy blasts, which seemed to home in on the enemies and strike them unerringly.

            Marcy Mega-Evolved and charged the Reaver camp, once the enemies who had been trying to engage Annika were in full retreat. She rushed into the campsite and began tearing into the hard-pressed enemies with her head scythe.

            Annika followed Marcy in, as Rocco kept up his ranged bombardments against the Reavers. She began to hack into the disorganized enemy cultists with her claws, while dodging enemy attacks. Leo and Sapphire then came onto the beach and focused their attacks onto the few remaining Reavers, as Drake had, by now, done severe damage to the camp’s structures. Ryan and Linda then came in again and lent their attacks to downing the few Reavers who were still standing.

With only around four Reavers left, they split up and ran from Annika’s force. Marcy shouted, “Oh no you don’t!” She then chased down two of the Reavers with cover from Ryan and Linda.

Rocco finished off another fleeing enemy with a shot of poisonous liquid. Drake then chased after the final retreating Reaver and tackled them to the ground. He then finished them off.

As Annika caught her breath, she saw that her allies had been able to dispatch the final unit of enemies. With the tents and unfinished boats now all burning brightly, the CAS Pokémon regrouped on the beach slightly north of the camp. Annika said, “We seem to have eliminated the cult force. Once the fires have burned out, we will check the area for loot and anything that would indicate further Reaver activity on this island.”

Annika’s teammates all nodded in agreement. Then, they made camp for the night just off the beach. They made sure to have someone keeping watch at all times so that any Reavers who may have been on patrol, or any wild Pokémon returning to the area after the cultists defeat, would not catch the CAS force off guard.

The next morning, Annika and her allies looked the, now burnt down, Reaver campsite over. They discovered that they could loot a number of Poké coins from the ruins of the encampment. They also were able to salvage some supplies and a couple of hard-metal boxes that contained objects that Marcy was able to identify as unholy symbols of the cult of Yveltal. The symbols looked like a small recreation of what were supposed to be one hand-like of the wingtips, or tail, of Yveltal himself. After the CAS team had done their best to destroy the unholy symbols of the cult of Yveltal and loot the rest of the campsite, they began to set off back for Creekside Town.

As the CAS Pokémon were on their way back, Marcy informed the rest of the group, “Thank you all. I know that some of you did not want to do this and that we did not make much profit off of this expedition, but it means a lot to me that those Pokémon cannot cause any more harm. I feel like Sparks may be finally fully avenged now.”

Annika and the other CAS members all nodded, somewhat solemnly, as they continued their trek back to Creekside Town.

The CAS members managed to make it back to their headquarters without any real incidents. Annika was able to sleep in her own bed at the CAS base once again.

The members of the CAS spent the next week completing a couple of minor jobs and resting after their raid on the Reaver Remnants camp. One morning, Marcy walked into the CAS office, where Annika had been working on one of her bark carving pieces.

Annika put down the piece of bark and asked Marcy, “What brings you here this morning? I don’t think I have called any new members’ meetings?”

Marcy sighed at Annika and replied, “Annika, I have another favor to ask of you and the CAS. You will have to trust me on this.”

Annika looked over at Marcy, wondering what she needed this time.


	35. Articuno

            Marcy had just walked into the CAS office, where Annika had been monning the desk, and said that she needed another favor from the CAS. Annika asked Marcy, “So, what is this second favor that you need from us? I would hope that it is not as big as the first favor, that being our wiping out the Reaver Remnants. I’ll admit that I did not mind taking down those Pokémon, after their old leader nearly sacrificed Alyssa and I.”

            Marcy looked awkwardly at the floor and then told Annika, “It is bigger, actually. And in this case, a lot of Pokémon may be in danger if we do not carry it out.”

            Annika had her attention focused on Marcy now. She then asked, “Ok, so what is this new favor? …Does it involve more cultists?”

            Marcy nodded her head no and then told Annika, “When we were by the beach, I began to sense something. It took me a while to figure out what it was, however. The important thing is that I now believe that there is going to be a massive tidal wave crashing into the northwestern coast of this island. The favor that I ask of you, and the CAS, is that we set off as soon as possible to begin warning the inhabitants of that area to move inland, closer to the mountains, for their own safety.”

            Annika looked Marcy in the eyes and then asked her, “Are you sure that this is going to happen. This seems like an awfully major undertaking. However, if it means that we could save a lot of Pokémon’s lives, it will be worth it.”

            Marcy nodded yes back at Annika and then replied, “I suggest that we leave within the next couple of days. You should probably call the members together soon so that we can figure a plan out.”

            As Annika was nodding yes to Marcy’s latest statement, Ryan flew through the CAS base’s skylight and said, “I hate to interrupt, ladies, but we have got an immediate problem. The Patrician, Watch Captain and Wing-Commander Serena have called us all to a meeting. We are to round up all of our members and head to the Governmental Palace of Creekside Town as soon as possible!”

            Marcy told Ryan, “We need to leave town soon, as I was just explaining to Annika. There is going to be a devastating tidal wave to the northwest of here. We need to warn the Pokémon who would be caught in its path.”

            Annika said, “We will have to see what the local government wants from us first. Then, we will figure this all out. We can always just send warning message northwest via airborne couriers, anyway.”

            Marcy sighed and nodded and then Ryan added, “We should gather all of our membership up and then meet at the Government District as soon as we can!”

            Annika nodded her understanding, and then the three Pokémon left the CAS base and set off into town to gather up their members.

            Once all of the CAS members had been collected, they all met up at the entrance to the Creekside Town Government District. They were allowed inside by the guards and were told to proceed directly to the Governmental Palace.

            Upon being allowed into the palace, the eight CAS members were taken to a room with a number of maps in it and a large table at the center. A map of the region surrounding Creekside Town had been laid out on the table at the center of the room. Marius, Samson and Serena were standing around the map. When Marius’s Poliwhirl guard let the CAS members into the room, Marius told them, “Welcome. Thank you for being able to come here so quickly. Your organization has grown immensely since it was first started, as we can all see.”

            Annika then politely asked, “Why have you called us here today, sir?”

            Samson told the CAS members, “We have just received some worrying reports. It seems that the rampaging Legendary Bird Articuno has recently been causing trouble in the farms around Greenprairie Village. She has damaged a number of their crops in a way that would threaten the region’s food supply were it to keep up. However, that is only the beginning of our problem.”

            Serena then took over, saying, “Articuno has now been confirmed as on her way to this town from the vicinity of Greenprairie. We are currently preparing both the Town Watch and the Scouts for the defense of key areas and the potential evacuation of citizens if she lingers in the area. It also seems that when Articuno was leaving Greenprairie, she claimed that she finally knew the location of the one she was hunting? Whatever that means, we need to be ready if she does attack Creekside.”

            Marius then continued, “We want to contract you all to try and keep Articuno off of the town proper. We will pay you all considerable fees to stand in her way and try to drive her away from Creekside, while our organized Watch and Scouts focus on preparing secondary defenses and evacuation routes.”

            Samson then pointed out, “You all can almost name your price on this, as we really do need your help stopping Articuno, if she does attack our settlement. She should be here tomorrow at some time, according to what we currently believe.”

            Ryan then nodded and told his fellow CAS members, “I am not going to let anyone harm my hometown! We are going to have to stand and fight against Articuno!”

            Marcy then sighed deeply and added, “I will try to help you, even though I have no real means of ranged combat. We need to put a stop to that avian terror once and for all! Then, we can hopefully go and take care of what I was discussing with Annika earlier.”

            Leo and Sapphire both nodded in agreement with Ryan and Marcy. Sapphire declared, “I will also stand here and defend my old home!”

            Drake and Rocco both agreed to help fight Articuno, not wanting her to harm any civilian civilized Pokémon.

            Linda then said, “I will help fight as well, I think my family might even have been saving something that should help me in this particular battle.”

            Leo then pointed out, “You all will need my help as well. My fire-based attacks will be one of our best ways of harming Articuno severely.”

            Annika then concluded, “This town has become my home. I will certainly stand with my comrades and friends and do my absolute best to keep it safe from any aggressors. You three can count on us to hold Articuno off for as long as we can. I think I even have the beginnings of a plan, actually.”

            Marius then responded, “Thank you all for your cooperation. We will make sure to pay all of you handsomely for your efforts here tomorrow. We will want you eight on the road to Greenprairie Village, ready to try and distract Articuno from the town proper, tomorrow. Be there as early in the morning as possible.”

            Annika and her comrades all nodded and saluted Marius, Serena and Samson as Serena said, “Good luck out there tomorrow!”

            The CAS Pokémon then headed off to ready their strategy for tomorrow’s probable battle.

            Once the members of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society, minus Linda at the moment, were all in their base once again, Annika was about explain her basic plan. Linda then came flying in through the skylight and said, “Hey everyone. Notice something different about me?”

            Drake nodded and then said to Linda, “You have evolved again!”

            Linda nodded and then said, “I am a Togekiss now! I talked it over with my family and they wanted me to be as powerful as I could be for our battle tomorrow. My mother did not want me to go, but I told her that I needed to help you all, even when going up against a Pokémon as powerful as Articuno.”

            Sapphire then said, “Well, we are glad to have you here with us now. Now, Annika, what is our general plan of attack going to be?”

            Annika nodded and then said, “We have a strong group of Pokémon here, but Articuno is an ancient being of immense power. My current plan is that Ryan will be in charge of engaging her from the air, he will focus on using his arrow-like spectral darts to deal as much damage as possible. Ryan, you will want to try and force Articuno as close to the ground as you can with your attack patterns. As for the rest of us, I will lead Leo, Sapphire and Rocco on the ground, we will seek cover wherever we can and snipe our foe with a barrage of ranged attacks.”

            Marcy then asked, “What about myself, Drake and Linda?”

            Annika nodded and then replied, “This is where the plan gets a bit…crazy. Marcy, I want Drake and Linda to airlift you up into the air, so that you can land on Articuno’s back and try to force her down with melee attacks. If we can ground her, we can negate a major advantage of hers. You will want to focus on attacking her wings above all else.”

            Marcy, Drake and Linda all somewhat nervously nodded, trusting in Annika by that point. Drake then said, “I will be quite vulnerable to our foe’s icy attacks, so I will try to stay above her and keep moving as much as I can.”

            Linda then said, “I think I can use one of my attacks so summon up some boulders to attack Articuno. That should really mess her up!”

            Annika nodded and then said, “Leo will focus on using his fire beams, Sapphire will blast Articuno with her fey energy and Rocco will try to poison Articuno with his distance attacks, which should injure her further. We will all try to stay as split up as possible, so that she cannot take out, or severely wound, too many of us at once. I think we should get some rest now and then move out tomorrow.”

            The eight CAS members split up for the evening and then all made sure to get some rest before the probable battle to come the next day.

            The next morning, Annika had lead the CAS members out of town through the eastern gate. As the Town Watch and the Scouts began to prepare secondary defenses and get ready for an evacuation as a final emergency measure, Annika set up her troops’ positions.

            Annika took cover behind a rock by the side of the road. Leo and Sapphire had agreed to stand on the road together, in Articuno’s plain view and begin engaging her. Rocco was hiding behind a tree and Ryan was patrolling the sky above his comrades. Just a bit to the south, Drake and Linda were with Marcy, ready to lift her up with their feet at a moment’s notice. Annika had a pack filled with items that could be tossed at Articuno to injure her, if necessary, just behind her position. The CAS members on the ground held their positions as they heard Ryan calling out, “I see a patch of sky where the clouds are gathering and some snow is falling. It is not that far off the ground and is coming this way fast!”

            Annika then saw Ryan fly over behind a tall pine tree to begin awaiting Articuno’s arrival. Annika then shouted, “Alright, everyone, stay hidden for as long as you can. If Articuno appears to be headed for Creekside Town, we will stop her here!”

            Drake and Linda prepared to airlift Marcy, as the CAS members all saw that the patch of cold air, which they could now discern an avian figure within was closing in on them. Articuno was not gaining altitude, in fact she was getting closer to the ground.

As Articuno was almost upon the CAS members, she glared down at where Marcy was standing and announced, “Finally! I have found you! The Absol who led the attack that drove me from my old nest atop Mount Flattop! I do not know why you have allied yourself with these Pokémon, but you will now suffer the consequences of your actions…and so will your new friends!”

Annika looked over at Marcy and asked, “What is she talking about?”

Marcy looked panicked and replied, “I don’t know! Maybe it is another Absol she is talking about? Drake, Linda, get me airborne!”

Articuno watched as Drake and Linda lifted Marcy into the air, she then shouted, “I recognize your voice! All of those who stand with you shall feel my wrath!” Articuno then projected a bolt of freezing cold energy into Drake, who was forced to let go of Marcy as he was in extreme pain.

As Linda was, without Drake’s help, also forced to let go of Marcy, making her fall to the ground, Annika shouted, “We will find out the truth later. Everyone, attack Articuno!”

Leo and Sapphire opened up with their fire and fey energy attacks, Rocco began to launch volleys of poisonous barbs and Ryan peered out from the tree and then flew out at Articuno, launching spectral arrows at her. Linda then flew at Articuno, summoned a series of boulders and sent them crashing into the Legendary Bird.

AS Marcy tried to stand up, Articuno blasted the area with a massive burst of snow emanating from her body. All of the CAS members, except for Drake, who barely evaded the attack’s area, staggered back in pain.

As Drake moved back in and began to charge up energy in his body, Annika began to launch her own icy pulses at Articuno. She then saw Marcy taking a large seed out of the pack. Marcy then spat the seed at Articuno, hitting the ancient avian in her tail and exploding it.

Despite being injured from the snow blast, Ryan landed on Articuno’s back and began to peck at her head furiously with his beak. The other CAS members kept up their attacks on Articuno, who was beginning to look injured.

Articuno then did a barrel roll to shake Ryan off of her, she then launched a series of boulders of her own into Leo, who staggered back in pain as Articuno kept her eyes focused on Marcy.

Drake then flew back into the fight and discharged a series of blades of wind into Articuno. Rocco, Leo, Ryan, Annika and Sapphire continued to blast Articuno with their distance attacks. Marcy took another explosive seed and then launched it at Articuno. However, this time the Legendary Bird dodged it.

Annika then shouted to Linda, “Hit one of her wings with your rock barrages! That attacks seemed to really wound her before!”

Linda nodded and then summoned another wave of boulders, which she fired into one of Articuno’s wings. The impact of the attack sent the Legendary Avian closer to the ground.

Articuno glared at the CAS members and then shouted, “You all are actually a match for me together. I will do what I came here to do and then be on my way!”

Articuno blasted Marcy with a second bolt of frozen energy. Marcy was able to survive the attack, as Drake began to charge up his energy again.

Annika then shouted, “Finish her! We can do this! Bring that monstrosity down!”

            Rocco, Leo, Sapphire, Ryan, Linda and Annika all concentrated their firepower onto Articuno and blasted her as she tried to close in on Marcy with her talons. Linda targeted the Legendary Bird’s other wing as Articuno was struck in the chest and head with the other barrage of attacks.

            With both of her wings injured and her body bruised, cut and battered, Articuno landed and then slumped to the ground, barely conscious. She looked out at the victorious CAS and glared at them. Articuno then asked, “Did the others among you know what your Absol comrade had done? Do you know why she did it, who her earlier followers were?”

            Marcy then glared at Articuno and then suggested to Annika, “We should finish her now. Think of the prestige it would bring if we slew a Legendary Pokémon who had been rampaging across this island.”

            Annika then looked back at Marcy and asked her, “First, you have to tell me what happened between you and Articuno before. She seems to think you were behind her being forced from her earlier home!”

            Marcy sighed and then walked away for a moment. She seemed to be contemplating something.

            Annika then heard Rocco say, “Guys…”

            Annika turned around to see Rocco evolving from Skorupi to Drapion. Ryan, who had landed, along with Drake and Linda, then said, “Hey, we should find out what Marcy did before…”

            Annika and the others turned to see that Marcy had kept walking north away from them, Annika called out to Marcy, “Where are you going?”

            Marcy, as Articuno tried to turn to look at her, locked eyes with Annika and said, “What I did was all part of a deal. As much as I enjoyed it, our association is at an end. I have failed in my mission here.” Marcy then took off, heading north at full speed.

            Annika was stunned, she then snapped out of it and ordered, “Everyone, open fire! Don’t let Marcy escape! Bring her down non-lethally!”

            As the CAS members began to chase after the fleeing Marcy, they left Leo and Sapphire to make sure that Articuno stayed where she was. Articuno shouted, “I take it you all did not know the truth.” As she was still too weak to attack or move far, Articuno watched the pursuit.”

            Marcy evaded or outran Annika, Ryan, Rocco and Linda’s attacks. Drake was doing his best to close in on her, but Marcy had quite a head start and could run very fast.

            Then, Linda exclaimed, “Is that…an Aura Sphere?”

            A blue orb of glowing energy came in from the north and collided with one of Marcy’s sides. The blast of energy knocked the retreating Absol unconscious.

            As Annika and her allies ran to where Marcy has fallen, they saw a jackal-headed bipedal Pokémon, who seemed exhausted and wet, walk over to where Marcy had fallen.

            After catching her breath, Annika asked the new arrival, “Who are you?”

            The Lucario collapsed to one knee and then said, “You know me, Annika. Thank Arceus I finally found you!”

            Annika’s heart soared, as she shouted, “Alyssa!” She then ran into the arms of her love.

As the other CAS members were standing over the downed, but still breathing, Marcy. Alyssa looked into Annika’s eyes and began crying. Annika then asked Alyssa, “I see that you have evolved, why are you here alone?”

Alyssa then managed to control her tears and looked into Annika’s eyes again. She then said, “Annika, it’s Lucius…he is… I was wrong about him and the AML! I was so terribly wrong! He is…”

Annika then asked Alyssa, sternly, “What is wrong with the AML? You were so loyal to Lucius when we met and when I last saw you?”

Alyssa stopped crying and then told Annika, “I knew part of the truth the whole time. The whole group knew what Lucius really wanted. He wanted to become a Legendary Pokémon himself! He always claimed that he would use that new power to help others, but now I know that he could not have meant that. …We have much to discuss, I also know the truth behind Marcy here. She is connected to Lucius. We need to get back to town, we can talk there.”

Still somewhat dazed from both the battle and the recent revelations, Annika nodded as they walked back over to where Articuno had fallen.


	36. The Conspiracy Revealed

            Annika was standing, along with Alyssa and the rest of the CAS, in front of Articuno. The newly-evolved Rocco was carrying Marcy in his pincer claws. Alyssa told Annika, “I want you to take me to the Patrician of Creekside Town right away. He needs to know what I know, as do all of you.”

            Annika replied, “We need to deal with Articuno here first, she is our most immediate concern. Then, we will go demand a meeting with Marius and you can tell us all about Lucius and whatever he is planning. And, of course how Marcy fits into it.”

            Drake added, “I cannot believe that Marcy was a spy. She had gotten so ingrained in our society before we learned the truth about her.”

            Leo pointed out, “I am glad that we did not head north to send that tidal wave warning now. There is almost certainly no tidal wave incoming.”

            Alyssa nodded and worriedly said, “The tidal wave is a lie, but there is another disaster on its way. Annika, do what you must with Articuno. I need to make things right, …we have to stop Lucius.”

            Articuno then looked down at the CAS members and said, “So, do you believe me now? The Absol you call Marcy led a surprise attack to dislodge me from my nest atop Mount Flattop. I must have my vengeance. Give Marcy to me and I will make sure that she is no longer a problem for anyone. Also, I will leave you all in peace, despite our earlier battle.”

            Sapphire then asked Annika, “Are we going to give Marcy to Articuno? She will probably murder her. I think we need to find out more from her first. Also, I still don’t know if Marcy should be put to death for what she has done?”

            Alyssa then stepped forward and locked eyes with Articuno, she then said, “Articuno, living incarnation of the frost, I know who gave Marcy the order to lead the attack on your nest and drive you away. It was the same Pokémon who ordered her to join up with these adventurers. The real guilty party here is the Hierophant Lucius of the Acolytes of the Mystic Lands. He is behind her actions and should be punished for them. Also, he desires to usurp the power on an immortal Legendary Pokémon for himself. If you will help us to stop his evil plans, then you may have your nest back. We will make sure that Marcy is punished, but in a less cruel way than you would probably punish her.”

            Articuno gave Alyssa a look over and then replied, “You are a brave one, young female. If Marcy is given punishment, I will help you stop this Lucius of yours. If he truly does seek a Legendary Pokémon’s power, then he is a threat to what had been established in this world. Since you defeated Marcy, I will give you my trust, for now.”

            Annika then told Articuno, “We will be back. We will hand Marcy over to the local authorities and then learn more about Lucius’s plans. Stay close to town if you wish to help us put a stop to him.”

            Articuno nodded and then said, “I need to rest anyways, you all gave me quite a beating. You really are as strong of a group of adventurers as I have overheard you all described as. I will listen to you for now, seeing as though you both defeated me and intend to punish the one I seek to punish.”

            Annika then nodded and said to Alyssa, “We will head back into town. Then, we will get Marcy locked up, for now. I will want to talk to her later, once she wakes up.”

            Alyssa nodded to Annika and then replied, “Since you all actually almost slew Articuno, your team really is strong. I am glad that I will soon be joining it.”

            Annika could not help but grin up at Alyssa as the CAS members trekked back to Creekside Town.

            Upon reentering Creekside Town, the CAS members were confronted by Serena and Samson. Serena asked, “What happened out there? Why is Articuno resting just outside of town?”

            Ryan replied, “We have determined that our member Marcy was actually the one behind the enraging of Articuno. She seems to be working for the AML, which Alyssa here just left.”

            Samson then asked, “Why would the AML want to enrage Articuno? They never seemed aggressive, except when defending those Mystic Circles of theirs. We would like some answers.”

            Alyssa then sighed and said, “They wanted access to the Mystic Circle on top of Mount Flattop… the birthplace of Yveltal. Lucius is planning on doing something horrific in order to make himself a ‘god,’ and most of his followers are supporting him in this insane plan. I must meet with your Patrician immediately!”

            Serena then turned to Annika and then asked, “Do you trust this Lucario?”

            Annika nodded and then said, taking Alyssa’s hand in her claw, “With my life, I love her! Now, please have your watch guards secure Marcy in the prison. We can talk to her once she wakes up.”

            Samson nodded and then said, “I hope you all are right about this… Jeremy, get this Absol locked up securely. She is not on our side after all.”

            Jeremy, the Ariados Watch Officer, then came forward and nodded to Samson, saying, “I will take care of this, Captain.”

            Rocco then handed off Marcy to Jeremy and his Spinarak assistants.

            As Marcy, who was still unconscious, was being taken away, Serena said, “Shall we all go to meet with Marius?”

            Annika then nodded yes and said, “Yes we shall. We need to let him know what is going on with the AML. Alyssa wants to tell her story to all of us.”

            Alyssa nodded and then Serena and Samson lead the eight Pokémon to the government district.

            Upon reaching the Governmental Palace, Marius was alerted and got to setting up a meeting in the large meeting hall on the palace’s first floor, which Annika had not previously been inside of. Marius, Aurelia, Serena and Samson stood before Annika, Alyssa and the other six CAS members in the large wood-paneled hall. Marius was sitting behind a desk and some of the CAS Pokémon were sitting on chairs, stools, or benches in the hall. Marius began the meeting by saying, “We have seen a few alarming developments in this day alone. First CAS member, and Creekside Citizen, Marcy turns out to have been behind the Articuno rampage. Next, it seems that she was working for the Acolytes of the Mystic Lands. Lastly, it seems that the AML’s leader has some sort of dastardly plot to become a Legendary Pokémon himself. Miss Alyssa, you are going to have to explain all of this to us if you want our help in stopping whatever Lucius is supposedly planning to do.”

            Alyssa simply nodded and stepped forward. She then began, “I spent my time as Lucius’s attendant knowing a key part of the truth behind his plans. I always knew, when I was serving him, that he wanted to use the power of the Mystic Circles to become a Legendary Pokémon. However, what only the other core members of the AML, Lucius, Titus and Nero as well as a few others, knew was how Lucius plans on gaining the power he needs in order to ascend to a divine state. It was not long ago when I learned the truth about his exact plan. When Lucius was able to procure a Sun Ribbon for me to use in my evolution, he said that he needed me to be as strong as possible for the AML’s most important mission. I asked him what that mission was, after evolving and he told me the plan he had been withholding from me up until then.”

            Serena then asked, “What is his plan? That is the big question here.”

            Alyssa then continued, “Lucius… he has obtained the means to have his head enforcer Titus trigger a volcanic eruption in this island’s volcano. He is also going to perform a powerful ritual at the Mystic Circle where Yveltal was born at the summit of Mount Flattop. That ritual will allow him to absorb the energy of all Pokémon who die within a significant radius of the circle. He will use the deaths caused by the volcanic eruption to empower himself with enough energy to become an immortal Legendary Pokémon. He claimed to be benevolent only to dissuade anyone who would try to stop him if they knew the truth. As for Marcy, Lucius recruited her to act as a secret agent for his cult. Her first mission was to lead a surprise attack that drove Articuno from the summit of Mount Flattop, allowing Lucius to use it. Next, she infiltrated the CAS, after spying on the Reavers before and during the joint mission. She was ordered, when she visited Lucius at the AML camp while claiming to be meeting him for the first time, to convince the CAS to get more Pokémon into the path of the volcano’s eruption before he would have Titus trigger it.”

            Samson then asked Alyssa, “I have two questions. One, if Lucius told you all of this, how and why are you here now? Also, how is this Titus going to trigger the volcanic eruption that Lucius wants to have happen. The volcano is supposed to be stable now.”

            Annika then asked, “Marcy was the one who determined the volcano’s stability. Maybe she lied to us?”

            Alyssa actually nodded no and then said, “First, I heard all of this from Lucius. I did my best to play along on the outside, but on the inside I was forced to reevaluate everything that I had believed up until then. After hearing the plan, I agreed to help Lucius become a ‘god.’ He did promise that I would rewarded, along with his other followers, once he was an immortal being. However, I instead snuck out of the camp at night and made a beeline for Creekside Town. I believe that I was not chased because the AML is preparing to execute their final operation and dealing with any other members who may not agree with Lucius’s insane scheme. They were probably also waiting for Marcy and the CAS to lure more Pokémon into the eruption’s radius. Now that that is not going to happen, they will be more likely to move ahead with their plan faster. As for how Titus is going to trigger the volcano. Apparently, he stole, on Lucius’s orders, an item called the Magma Stone, the ‘afterbirth’ of the Legendary Pokémon Heatran. The AML believe that they can use the Magma Stone to cause the volcano to erupt, despite its current stability. I was told that there is a safe tunnel that leads inside the volcano, we will need to find it.”

            Rocco then spoke up, saying, “I think that the Magma Stone is the Lava Gem that was my hometown’s greatest treasure. Titus must have been the one who stole it! I believe that I can find the tunnel that Alyssa is talking about from Caverndeep Village.”

            Alyssa then said, “We need to be able to quickly launch an expedition to reach the mountains and defeat the AML! I would like to leave here tomorrow.”

            Aurelia then said, “I guess I was right to not trust the AML. Patrician Marius, we must stop the madmon Lucius! I insist that we commit some Pokémon to any expedition launched with the intention of stopping Lucius from becoming a Legendary Pokémon. If his plan were to succeed, it would be both atrocious mass murder and a violation of our world’s divine laws!”

            Marius nodded and then thought for a moment. He then announced, “Serena, Prepare your best troops for a major combat action. Samson, your Watch will have to take over the defense of Creekside Town while our Scouts are away. Aurelia, begin ceremonies to Suicune, you always said she would appear when we truly needed her assistance. Annika, divide up your forces for two assaults, we will want Rocco to go with the group that delves into the volcano to locate and stop Titus. Another force will charge up mount Flattop and attempt to end Lucius and his insane plan. We will want you to lead one of the assaults, of course. Serena and her Scouts will have to airlift the five of you who cannot fly north to your targets. Creekside will come to the defense of our island and of our world’s order!”

            Alyssa looked immensely relieved and then said, “Thank you all so much, we should depart tomorrow morning, after packing for the mission.”

            Drake then added, “We should go and tell Articuno what is going on. Getting her assistance would be great for us in this situation!”

            Annika then nodded, saying, “She should be able to help with the airlift. What we may need her to do is help get as many Pokémon away from the volcano as possible. She will need to get them to evacuate, even if she has to scare them away.”

            Serena then nodded and said, “I will take my leave of you all now. I will prepare my forces for the trip north immediately.”

            Annika then looked over her allies and said, “I will lead the attack on Mount Flattop and confront Lucius. Ryan, Drake, you two are with me. Rocco, will go with Sapphire and Leo to the volcano. Linda will also go with them to provide air support. Leo, you are my oldest friend in this world. I want you to lead Rocco, Sapphire and Linda into battle to defeat Titus.”

            Sapphire then smiled at Leo and said, “You can do this, my love.” Leo and Sapphire then kissed.

            Alyssa then took Annika’s claw and said, “I am coming with you, darling. I will face Lucius by your side. My former master has a lot to answer for.”

            Annika nodded and then told her friends and comrades, “Get ready to fly out tomorrow. Leo, go tell Articuno what is going on and what we need her help for. Make sure that you all are packed today. This is going to be our biggest and most important mission! I trust that we will all do our best here. A lot is riding on us this time.”

            Annika’s friends all nodded and then they all set out from the meeting room. Alyssa then asked Annika, “Where shall we go now?”

            Annika told Alyssa, “We will get packed later today. For now, lets’ go see if Marcy is awake, or soon will be. I have got to speak with her!”

            Alyssa nodded and then followed Annika to the town’s prison.

            Annika and Alyssa were standing in front of a cell covered by think metal bars. Inside of the cell, Marcy was wearing metal shackles on both her front and back ankles. A thick bag had been bound around her head-scythe as well.

Marcy was awake when Annika and Alyssa stood in front of her cell. She looked up at Annika’s angry face and sighed, “It seems like my life really has hit rock bottom. Things never go right for me, at least not for long.”

Annika glared at Marcy and then asked, “You have been caught. Now, you are going to answer some questions for us. Unless you want to be given to Articuno, that is. First, was Sparks even real, ever? How much truth did you tell us, spy?”

Marcy growled when Annika suggested that Sparks was not real. She then focused herself and sat down. She then told Annika, “Alyssa should be able to sense if I am telling the truth through my aura. Now, listen to me, Sparks, my home village, Lena’s identity, my vendetta against the Reavers, all of that was real.”

            Alyssa nodded yes to what Marcy had said and then Annika asked, “Ok, then what about your working for Lucius? Do you know what he is planning on doing?”

            Marcy then sighed again and said, “Here is the story, the Reavers did destroy my home and Salen did murder my lover Sparks. After that, I wandered until I found the AML and Lucius. Lucius made a deal with me that if I acted as his head spy, he would ensure the destruction of the Reavers and the death of Salen. My first assignment was to lead an AML contingent to drive Articuno off of the summit of Mount Flattop with a sneak attack. After that, I was allowed to spy on the Reavers and help plan Lucius’s attack. The fact that they had occupied a Mystic Circle just gave Lucius an easy justification to fulfill his end of our bargain. I was even there when you two were captured and almost murdered by Salen. You may not believe me, but before the AML and the CAS arrived, I almost considered trying to save you two myself. I was able to meet with Lucius again in the Golden Forests after the joint mission. Then, he ordered me to join with your society and await further orders. I helped you all with the volcano survey and everything because I was doing my job for Lucius. However, I did not intend to serve him forever.”

            Annika nodded and then asked Marcy, “What about your tidal wave warning? Do you know why Lucius told you to get certain Pokémon closer to the volcano? Do you know that he plans to murder them with an eruption triggered by the very artifact that was stolen from Rocco’s home village?”

            Marcy looked shocked and angry, she then replied, “Annika, he just told me to get the CAS’s help to get those Pokémon away from the shoreline. That was to be my final assignment from him to repay him for killing Salen, which I had watched him do in person. He… he was just using me as a tool in his plan, if what you say was true!”

            As Alyssa nodded, Annika was still visibly angry at Marcy, she said, “Marcy, you were our friend! We trusted you and I even told you what I once was! You never told us the truth. You never seemed to realize that Lucius was using you! What would Sparks think of you now?”

            Marcy sighed deeply, tears in her eyes, and then replied, “I deserve all of this. Annika, you all were my friends as well. I wish I could come with you and help you stop Lucius, but you would not trust me with that, would you. …Oh Arceus…I told him Annika! I told him you were once human!”

            Annika glared daggers into Marcy and then told her, “You will rot here until the leadership of Creekside Town sees fit to release you. You were a fool, maybe a desperate one, but still. You have to be punished for what you have done.”

            Alyssa then gave Marcy a compassionate look and told her, “I will take your place for now. We will do all that we can to slay my former master. He fooled so many of us, Marcy. Do not hate yourself. I can sense very little malevolence in you, unlike what I sensed in him after I evolved. I hope that once you are released from prison, you can find a good life for yourself.”

            Marcy smiled at Alyssa and then replied, “I had a good enough life when I was working with Annika and the CAS. I was just blinded by my loyalty to Lucius after he killed Salen. I am truly sorry.”

            Annika then groaned and told Marcy, “You were a good ally to have around. Maybe, one day we can stand as friends again. It will take time for me and the others to forgive you, but it might happen one day.”

            Marcy stood up in her chains and then told Annika, “That is all that I ask of you. Good luck on your mission and tell Articuno and everyone else that I am sorry for what I have done.”

            Annika and Alyssa both nodded and then two of them left the prison and headed over to the CAS base to pack up some supplies for their mission. Drake told the couple that Articuno had agreed to help transport the CAS Pokémon north. He also told them that she would try to clear the area around the volcano of as many Pokémon as she could.

The Scouts were also mobilizing for action, leaving only a few of their least experienced members in town to patrol the area. The Town Watch members were also mobilizing in case anything happened while the CAS and most of the Scouts were away.

That night, Annika and Alyssa walked out into the grassy fields just north of Creekside and spent some time alone. Needing rest before setting off, the young couple headed back to the CAS base to sleep soon.

            The next morning, Annika, Alyssa, and Rocco boarded Articuno. Leo and Sapphire seemed to be smiling at each other even more than usual, which Alyssa chuckled at. Ryan and Serena seemed to exchanging glances in an unusual way as well. Serena allowed Sapphire to ride her and another Scout picked Leo up. The flight of ten scouts, Articuno and their passengers set off north for the mountains. Their objective was the destruction of Hierophant Lucius, the destruction of his AML cult and the stopping of the AML’s murderous plot.


	37. The Climactic Battles

            Annika and her allies spent the next few days flying north to the vicinity of Twopeak Town. With occasional rest breaks and resupplying stops, the flight consisting of some Creekside Scouts, Drake, Linda and Articuno, along with their CAS passengers managed to reach Twopeak without any major incidents. Articuno had been able to create continuous gusts of chilly wind behind and below the flight to help them advance north faster. Early on during the flight north, Alyssa had explained to Annika that she had ran straight south to Creekside Town, after Lucius had revealed his murderous plan to her, because she felt sure that she could trust Annika and that Annika trusted her. She also did not have any other serious contacts to turn to on the island.

            Upon reaching Twopeak Town and stocking up on supplies one last time, Articuno was going to leave quickly with Linda to fly Rocco, Leo and Sapphire to the access tunnel’s entrance, which would lead them to Caverndeep Village. Right before Leo and his squad were about to leave, Annika embraced him and told him, “Good luck, I know that you all can do this!”

            After Annika let go of him, Leo saluted Annika and told her, “I also believe that you can accomplish your mission, Annika. we are all lucky to have met you. …Alright, lets’ move out. We have a giant metal snake to kill and a volcanic eruption to stop!”

            Once Leo and his unit had left with Articuno, Serena said, “We should get going now. We will fly Annika and Alyssa to the AML camp and see what we can find there. We will then fly up Mount Flattop and try to locate and destroy Lucius, along with those who stand with him.”

            As they all prepared to fly, Ryan said, “I was able to explain everything to Joshua at the IMC office. This town should be on high alert about the possible eruption. We just have to take Lucius and his supporters down now.”

            Annika and Alyssa nodded as they prepared to be airlifted over to the AML camp.  

            Serena and her wing of Scouts then flew over to where the AML encampment stood below the foothills of Mount Flattop. When they landed, they discovered that the camp was still where it had been, but that it had had most of its valuable items removed. There were also a few signs of struggles and combat strewn around the camp.

            Alyssa looked around and then said, “It looks like I was probably right, the few members of the AML who did not want to be accessories to mass murder were all dealt with by those loyal to the Hierophant. We need to scale the mountain and find Lucius. He should almost certainly be at the summit, where the mystic circle is located.”

            Serena then nodded and said, “We are flying up that mountain! Lets’ move up and out!”

            Serena and her unit airlifted Annika and Alyssa a considerable distance up the mountain. They dealt with increasingly cold winds on the way up. On their way up, they noticed that there were few wild Pokémon left on the mountain. Annika and Alyssa looked over to each other and nodded, realizing that Lucius’s forces had probably done away with most of the wild Pokémon in the area. They had certainly done so either to fuel the dark ritual, get possible threats out of the way, or both.

            As the flight of Scouts continued to close in on the top of the mountain, flying as fast as they could even despite the winds and the cold, they saw a unit of seven airborne Pokémon coming at them. The Scouts lowered their altitude and Annika and Alyssa were put down on the ground. Ryan and Drake stayed in position to provide close air support.

            Alyssa focused in and then shouted, “Looks like Nero has brought a ‘welcoming committee’ to meet with us! Prepare for combat!”

            Nero was indeed at the head of a flight of four Yanma and two Minior. The Yanma each dropped a Bergmite on the ground and then flew up to regroup with Nero. Nero then looked at the invaders and said, “So you have returned, Alyssa?”

            Alyssa shouted back, “I have returned and I am bringing the defeat of Lucius and this insane plot of yours! I cannot allow him to do what he is planning on doing. If he wishes to gain divine power through a massacre, then he is profoundly unworthy of godhood!”

            Nero then laughed and responded, “We have already activated the Mystic Circle’s powers. Lord Lucius is already drawing power from every Pokémon on the northern half of this island who dies! He will become a god and you all will not survive this day! …All forces, do not let them reach our lord. Attack!”

            Serena then shouted, “Scout formation, take out his support units!”

            A violent dogfight then began in the air above Annika and Alyssa as the ground squad of Bergmite began to launch pulses of ice up into the air at the Scouts and Drake. Alyssa shouted to Annika, “I will begin to take down the Bergmite. You need to aim up and engage Nero. He is the enemy leader here.”

            Annika nodded and then fired a pulse of ice up into Nero, who recoiled in pain. Nero then summoned a series of boulders and sent them flying into Annika, who was knocked to the ground.

            As Annika was recovering, she saw Drake launch gusts of wind into the Yanma. She also saw Alyssa Mega-Evolve. Alyssa then downed a Bergmite with a palm strike to the “face” of that foe. Annika then saw a Minior take a spectral arrow from Ryan. She then fired an icy air pulse into the meteorite Pokémon, dropping it.

            Annika noticed that when the Minior hit the ground, its body disappeared in a wisp of black and red energy. Annika thought, “It is true, Lucius has activated a terrible power. It is even consuming his own followers.”

            Annika then saw Nero being engaged by Serena as Drake downed a Yanma. She then saw a pair of Fletchinder Scouts dive bombing a Bergmite and taking her down with beams of fire. A Swellow Scout then rammed a second Yanma out of the sky. Annika then saw Nero blast a Pidgeotto Scout out of the sky with another bombardment of boulders. The scout’s body hit the ground and was then consumed by the same dark energy.

            Annika glared at Nero as he took a physical strike from Serena’s beak. Then, she saw Alyssa engaging with the final two Bergmite as another Scout, this one a Pidove, was taken down by the remaining Minior. Drake then downed a Yanma with a blast of air from his wings and Ryan blasted the Minior with a series of leaf daggers.

            Annika targeted Nero and blasted him with another pulse of freezing air. Serena then blasted Nero with a burst of wind and he fell from the sky.

            Alyssa and some of the Scouts worked together to attack the remaining Bergmite, as Annika walked over to the downed Nero. As Drake drained the life out of the second Minior, downing it, Ryan and Serena turned to the few remaining enemies. Annika then approached Nero more closely and Nero looked over to her and said, “The Faithful will be rewarded when he ascends….”

            Annika cut Nero off, as he began to summon some boulders to fling at her, by hacking into him with her claws repeatedly until Nero involuntarily dispelled his boulders and then was consumed by the black and red energy.

            Annika breathed heavily and then looked up to see the final Yanma falling from the sky and the Bergmite collapsing from Alyssa and the Scouts’ attacks.

            Ryan then looked visibly upset and said, “We lost two of our own. They will not be buried at home, it seems.”

            Serena looked angry and then declared, “We are going to put a talon up Lucius’s ass for this! We will only rest briefly. We will then take our remaining forces and charge up the mountain to engage him. What we have all just seen proves that Alyssa was right all along!”

            Annika and Alyssa were then picked up and flown father north up the mountain. They intended to stop Lucius there, once and for all.

\---

            Rocco had been able to give Articuno the location of a tunnel entrance closer to Caverndeep than the access tunnel that they had used before. Articuno flew off to warn the other local settlements after dropping off Leo, Sapphire and Rocco.

Rocco then led the group to Caverndeep where he was able to get an audience with Patriarch Isiah, after saying that he had learned the location of the Lava Gem/Magma Stone. Isiah heard the story behind Lucius’s plot from Leo. He then quickly became enraged that the AML had not only stolen Caverndeep Village’s prized treasure, but that they were planning to use it to commit an atrocity that also threatened Caverndeep.

Isiah then both gave the CAS Pokémon access to the tunnel leading safely into the volcano and ordered one of his Nosepass guards to follow them and cover their rear along with a squad of three Geodude soldiers.

Leo and Rocco then lead their force for what felt like about another hour through the winding tunnel into the center of the volcanic crater.

When Leo, Sapphire, Linda and Rocco emerged onto a platform made of rock, which was jutting out just above the raging lava of the volcano, they saw the glowing Magma Stone being guarded by a trio of Lycanroc (Midday) and a pair of Magcargo. They then turned and saw that the Steelix Titus was standing before them to the side.

Titus Mega-Evolved, saying, “I know why you must be here. You all want to stop the eruption. No matter, I will not fail my lord here! Our faith will be tested by the ritual to transform him into a new immortal divine being! You all will just help to fuel our master’s apotheosis!”

Leo then stepped forward and shouted, “Not while we draw breath! Everyone, bring down the guards so that we may reclaim the stone!”

Rocco then shouted, “That Magma Stone is not yours! We will not let you use it for evil! Engage them!”

As Titus launched a barrage of rocks at the four CAS members, a unit of six AML Slugma emerged from the lava behind the squad. The Caverndeep Nosepass shouted, “Don’t let our allies get flanked! Attack the enemy!” The Nosepass and three Geodude then charged out of the tunnel at the Slugma and began to bombard them with rock and earth. The barrage of attacks forcing the Slugma to turn around and dropping one Slugma quickly.

Sapphire emitted a cloud of bubbles, which wounded Titus’s five allies. Then, Linda launched an Aura Sphere into a Lycanroc, dropping her.

Rocco started firing barbs into a Magcargo as the AML forces began to return fire into Leo’s unit.

            Leo then gulped a bit and then rushed at Titus and detonated a blast of fire around his entire body to wound the Mega-Steelix.

            Titus then staggered back and shouted, “All reinforcements, engage them!”

            A second pair of Magcargo emerged from the lava to engage Rocco, Linda and Sapphire, as Titus blasted Leo with a burst of draconic energy.

            Even as the Caverndeep squad downed another pair of Slugma, while having only lost one of their Geodude, Sapphire shouted, “We are outnumbered badly!”

            Linda then used another Aura Sphere to drop one of the initial Magcargo and shouted back, “We cannot give up here, Annika is counting on us!”

            Rocco then dodged some attacks from the Lycanroc and shouted, “Who is that up there? Is that Articuno? …no its…”

            Leo detonated a second burst of fire into Titus and then looked up. He then shouted, “I think it is…Suicune?”

            A four-legged blue Pokémon was floating down into the crater from above on a cushion of wind. She then launched herself onto the platform and bombarded a Magcargo with a series of bubbles, defeating that foe. Suicune then declared, “My Prelate has informed me of what is going on here. The evildoers will be stopped!”

            Sapphire then took advantage of the enemy’s momentary panic to unleash a cloud of bubbles which took down another Magcargo and a Lycanroc. Linda and Rocco then turned to help Leo engage Titus. As Rocco was on his way over, Linda sniped Titus with an Aura Sphere.

Titus recoiled back and then launched a series of rocks at Linda as his stronger minions engaged Sapphire and Suicune. Linda was badly wounded, but she stayed airborne and kept in the fight.

The numbers of Slugma had now been whittled down to only two with no more losses among the Caverndeep Pokémon. Suicune was then attacked by the Magcargo, she easily shrugged off some poisonous breath and then used a second cascade of bubbles to drop that foe. Sapphire then used a powerful jet of water to drop the final Lycanroc. Rocco, then decided to help his Caverndeep allies finish off the two remaining Slugma, spitting poison at them.

Linda used another Aura Sphere on Titus and he began to waver. As he saw his squad of Slugma getting wiped out, he glared at Leo, who then grinned at him and then said, “Your mad scheme is over now!” Leo detonated a third and final burst of flames into Titus and he collapsed to the ground.

As he died, Titus said, “Lucius, I have failed you and our faith. We have all failed you…”

Suicune then walked over to the Magma Stone. She calmly knocked it over and it ceased to glow. The lava level in the chamber began to go down and then Sapphire said, “We have done it! The AML won’t be able to make the volcano erupt now. I just hope that Annika can put an end to Lucius so that he cannot escape.”

\---

            Annika and Alyssa were being airlifted up to the top of Mount Flattop by the remaining Creekside Scouts. Their force consisted of the two lovers, Ryan, Serena, Drake, two Fletchinder, a Swellow, a Talonflame, a Drifloon and a Drifblim.

            The force began to approach the summit of the mountain, where they saw what looked like a massive abandoned nest and a glowing black series of patterns on the ground.

The force landed and then marched up to the summit. Once they neared the center of the black markings, they saw an Avalugg and six other Pokémon of various species. The Avalugg heaved to the side and revealed a Kabutops whose body was enshrouded by black energy. His eyes were glowing pink and red. What looked like blocky black claws emitted from his scythes.

Hierophant Lucius looked over the assault force and then pointed at Alyssa, shouting, “Traitor! You have brought those who would stop me from becoming an immortal god! You have destroyed enough of the faithful today, Alyssa. No matter WHO you have with you, you will not stop me!”

Annika then looked back, thinking that Lucius had just hinted at her former humanity and said, “I don’t see any volcanic eruptions happening! We caught your spy, Marcy, by the way!”

Alyssa then added, “Lucius, I cannot let you commit this atrocity! You have both tapped into an evil energy and done so for purely selfish reasons! You need to stop this ritual now. This is your last chance.”

Lucius cackled for a moment and then responded, “I am asking for no one’s permission. Every Pokémon who dies is this area, their life energy enters my body and makes me more powerful. Eventually, I will cross a threshold one way or another. There will be no more Lucius. A new god will be born! Since my new from will have been born from so much death, I will become known as Necrozma!”

Ryan then said, “He’s clearly insane.”

Serena then coldly said, “I agree. Take them all down! Annika, Alyssa, kill Lucius! We will take down his minions.”

Alyssa Mega-Evolved again, charged up an Aura Sphere and then launched it into the Avalugg, who recoiled back and unleased a blast of snow over the area to wound Annika and Alyssa’s allies.

Ryan and Serena then flew over the area, leading the Scouts into battle against Lucius’s ring of six minions. Ryan fired a leafy dagger into Lucius, who staggered back. Drake began to charge up his energy as Annika and Alyssa rushed at the Avalugg. Annika dug her metallic claws into the iceberg Pokémon as Alyssa struck him with her palm attacks.

Annika then saw Lucius summon some boulders and launch them into the Talonflame Scout, killing him. Serena then blasted three of Lucius’s minions with a burst of wind, taking out one of them with her attack.

The Avalugg knocked Annika back with his body, using a brutal ramming. Then, Annika saw one more of Lucius’s minions fall when Drake discharged his energy razors over the area.

Alyssa point-blank fired an Aura Sphere into the Avalugg, taking him out of the fight. She then shouted, “On to Lucius, we will need to drain his energy before finishing him off!”

            As Annika saw Lucius’s minions kill the Drifloon Scout and Ryan launched more leaf daggers into Lucius, she ran in behind Alyssa to rush the cackling Lucius who shouted, “Every death gives me yet more power!” Lucius then began to duel with Alyssa in Melee, using his scythe claws as Alyssa used her palm strikes.

            As the Drifblim Scout bombarded the AML troops with wind-like pulses of ghostly energy, Serena led the other three remaining scouts to down another one of the AML Pokémon. Annika then began to rush in and hack at Lucius with her dark energy slashes.

            Lucius staggered back and then hacked into Alyssa with an energy-charged slash. Alyssa clutched her chest and then Annika ran up to begin hacking at Lucius mercilessly with her dark energy charged attacks.

            Serena organized her troops into a close formation and they began to focus on picking off the three remaining weaker AML members, as Drake discharged another blast of sharp wind at the foes.

            Alyssa fired another Aura Sphere into Lucius, who laughed as he took the attack and was still standing. Annika used another dark energy slash on Lucius and then took a similar attack in turn from the Hierophant. Ryan then bombarded Lucius with more leaves and survived some hits from Lucius’s remaining minions.

            Serena then unleashed another blast of wind, dropping one more of Lucius’s followers. Then, her four remaining troops rushed in to engage the two AML members who were still standing.

            Annika hacked into Lucius again, this time into his face. He staggered back as Ryan came in for another attack and sniped him with more leaves. Lucius then bombarded Ryan with Boulders, but he stayed airborne.

            As Lucius now had only one more follower left, he began to gather all of the energy he had left in him, as Alyssa struck him with another Aura Sphere. Lucius shouted, “Alyssa, your betrayal is the cause of my failure! You have brought the end of the Acolytes! …DIE!”

            Lucius charged up a massive beam of psychic-dark energy, which Annika tried and failed to get in front of. The beam of energy struck Alyssa in the chest and she fell to her knees, screaming in pain.

            Annika then shrieked with rage and charged the exhausted Lucius, as Serena and Drake finished off his last follower and the other Scouts bombarded Lucius with their attacks. Annika slashed into Lucius’s face with her dark-energy claws and his energy finally dissipated.

            Lucius began to cough heavily as he tried to stand. He swung his claws at Annika, wounding her further, but was bombarded by a series of ranged attacks from her allies.

            Now Barely conscious, Annika blasted Lucius with frozen air point-blank. Lucius fell to his knees. He then looked up past Annika and shouted, his voice filled with pure rage, “She’s still alive? ...”

            An Aura Sphere collided with Lucius square in the stomach, shattering his remaining physical resolve. Lucius collapsed to the ground, no longer breathing.

            Annika looked behind her to see a badly wounded Alyssa getting to her feet and saying, “That is that. No new gods will ascend today!”

            Annika then ran to Alyssa and the two of them shared a warm embrace. Ryan then said, “We have lost two more Scouts. However, we have stopped the AML here. The volcano is not erupting, so I can only hope that Leo, Sapphire and their allies succeeded in their mission and defeated Titus.”

            Drake added, “Lets’ get back to Twopeak Town and see if we can find our allies. We should also tell Articuno that we have reclaimed her nest for her.”

            Serena nodded and said, “We are heading back to Twopeak! Lets’ move out!”

            Annika and Alyssa allowed themselves to be airlifted up and off Mount Flattop. They then returned to Twopeak Town.

            The next day, Leo’s squad met up with Annika’s. Rocco had returned the Magma Stone to Caverndeep Village, but he was planning on moving to Creekside Town to become a citizen there and stay in the CAS. Suicune had rushed south once it was confirmed that the AML had been destroyed. That was only after Annika was able to briefly see her running back towards Creekside Town.

            Articuno made sure to help airlift the CAS members back home, but then planned to return to her nest. She was going to make sure to safeguard the summit of Mount Flattop against any future intruders, especially ones who wished to use the birthplace of Yveltal’s power.

            After arriving back in Creekside Town. Alyssa and Rocco were both fast-track declared citizens for their efforts in stopping the AML. After resting the night with Alyssa beside her, Annika planned to visit Marcy in prison the next day, before the victory party was to commence the following night. She had to tell Marcy what had happened.


	38. Standoff at Creekside Town

            The morning after Annika, Alyssa, the other CAS members and the surviving Scouts had returned to Creekside Town, Annika was talking with Alyssa after the couple had eaten breakfast in the CAS base. Alyssa asked Annika, “Knowing how you feel about religion, you must be surprised to have learned that Leo’s unit was assisted in their battle by the Lady Suicune herself?”

            Annika sighed and replied, “Seeing that Leo, Sapphire, Linda and Rocco could all confirm her appearance during the volcano battle, I have to concede that Aurelia was right about her patron deity appearing when and where she was most needed. She does seem to be a loner for the most part, though.”

            Alyssa nodded and said, “You mentioned last night that you were going to visit with Marcy in prison to tell her about our successful mission.”

            Annika nodded yes as Alyssa continued, “After all that has happened, I have lost the place where I thought I belonged for so long. With Lucius and the AML destroyed, I have no one left but you, Annika.”

            Annika nodded back at Alyssa and then told her, “I will always be there for you. You have citizenship and a home in Creekside Town. I also consider you an active member of our adventurers’ society now. You certainly earned the title after the way that you helped us on the mission to stop Lucius. You were very brave to even come here to warn us of what was going on.”

            Alyssa smiled at Annika and then briefly kissed her, she then said, “Thanks, honey. I think I will take care of some resupplying today, as well as helping set up the victory celebrations. I trust that you will be able to go and visit with Marcy by yourself.”

            Annika nodded and then told Alyssa, “I am confident that you will get used to this place soon enough. Anyway, I will see you around, dear. I am going over to see Marcy now.”

            Alyssa told Annika as she was leaving, “We should really consider getting a house at some point. This place is a decent organizational base. However, it is not really a home.”

            Annika briefly turned around and then told Alyssa, “We will see what we can do about that later.”

            Alyssa nodded back at Annika, as she left the building.

            When Annika reached the local prison, and was taken to Marcy’s cell she saw the Absol trying to pace around in her chains. When Marcy saw Annika, she walked up to the front of the cell and stood in front of the bars.

            Annika folded her arms, smiled and told Marcy, “Even though we lost a few of our Scouts in the process, we destroyed Lucius and the AML. Lucius was empowered by a form of dark-psychic energy, but that did not save him from us.”

            Marcy nodded and then asked Annika, “Did he bring up anything about your former humanity?”

            Annika nodded no and then replied, “It did not come up. He did seem to hint at it, though. I think that he was too focused on trying to defeat our attack force and ‘become a god’ to bring it up.”

            Marcy then said, “I am glad to see you alive. Based on what you said before, you did not lose any CAS members. I assume that Serena also made it back alive?”

            Annika nodded back at Marcy and told her, “The CAS remains intact, minus you that is.”

            Marcy sighed and then replied, “Annika… what I did for Lucius was part of a deal. I really had no clue what he was planning. I did not even know that he wanted to become a Legendary Pokémon. I was only following his orders because I believed that he would avenge Sparks. When he did just that, I felt like he was a decent Pokémon and that he would do nothing that would harm any innocents. I really am sorry, Annika. I know that my apologies will not get me out of this cell must faster. I know that Alyssa is not here now, but I am being sincere in saying that I don’t want you to hate me. I really did see you and the others as my friends and allies, especially once I began to get to know you all.”

            Annika took a moment to process all that Marcy had just told her. She then said, “Marcy, I want you to get let out of this cell, eventually. Once the local authorities have decided that you are worthy of release, come and find me. It is not up to me what your fate will be. However, it is up to me whether to let you back into the CAS, or not, once you are free again.”

            Marcy nodded and then told Annika, “There is nothing I would want more, once I am free of this place. Tell the other members that I am sorry. I hope that Alyssa watches your back while I am out of the action.”

            Annika smiled back at Marcy and then replied, “I hope that one day, I will trust you to watch my back again. Anyway, I should go now to find Alyssa and help set up the victory party.”

            Marcy just nodded, sighed deeply and told Annika to have fun at the party, as she slumped down in her cell.

            Annika sighed a bit, wishing she could do more for Marcy, even if she could not admit it fully. Then, she left the prison and headed back to the CAS base while thinking about looking for a house for her to share with Alyssa in the near future.

            That evening, Annika and Alyssa were at the victory party, which was being held in a large square near the center of Creekside Town. All of the major local officials and every active member of the CAS was attending the celebration. Annika and Alyssa had danced for what had felt like a couple of hours when Annika began to feel a bit tired. Alyssa then told Annika, “There were a few houses just south of here that I had looked at earlier today. A couple of them are actually for sale by the current owners now. They all looked big enough to support us both.”

            Annika nodded and then asked, “Maybe I should take a brief break from the party and go check out those houses? Will they have signs indicating their ‘for sale’ status?”

            Alyssa nodded yes and then told Annika, “I will go and talk to Leo and Sapphire. From what you told me before, it seems like Leo must be ‘over the moon,’ since they finally got together for real. I will see you back here soon.”

            Annika smiled at Alyssa and then kissed her. She then set off south from the party area to go check out the houses.

            Once Annika was a decent distance from the party, she did see a couple of houses, not far from Leo’s actually, that appeared to be both up for sale and big enough to house herself and Alyssa. After Annika looked over the houses for a little bit, trying to decided which one of them she liked the most, she looked a bit south and then staggered back in surprise.

            Annika looked up at the massive Pokémon that had silently appeared in front of her. The creature appeared to be a massive vaguely draconic-reptilian beast with pink and white skin and two large clawed hands. The newly arrived beast looked down at Annika and said, in a booming but vaguely female voice, “Hello, Annika.”

            Annika looked dumfounded and then asked, “Who and what are you?”

            The draconic beast replied, in a booming voice, “I am Palkia, the first daughter of Arceus and the demigoddess of space. I have come for you, because I was the one who allowed you to be turned into a Pokémon and visit this world far from where you were born.”

            Annika calmed down a bit and then began, “Well, thank you for...”

            Palkia sighed and then told Annika, “I am here because I thought it would be unfair to return you home in your sleep without warning you of what was to come. I sent you here too help stop the Acolytes of the Mystics Lands and their insidious plot. Now that Lucius is dead; you need to be returned to the place you came from.”

            Annika’s face was taken over by a look of pure terror. She then stammered, “You… cannot do that to me! Why would you give me the amazing gift you gave me and then take it away? Please, I will do anything… just don’t send me back to that awful orphanage. Don’t take me away me from my friends… and Alyssa.”

            Palkia began to give Annika a stern look and then replied, “Annika, I am sorry, but you need to go back to the place where you belong…”

            At that point, Alyssa’s voice called out, “She belongs with me!” Alyssa ran to Annika and then stood in front of her. She then shouted, “I don’t know what is going on here, but not even a creature such as you will separate me from my Annika!”

            Annika began to tear up, as Alyssa and Palkia began to lock eyes and try to stare each other down. Palkia then shouted to Alyssa, “You will not stop me from doing what I need to do! …Annika, it is time for you to go home! …”

            At that point Annika heard a huge number of pounding footsteps behind her and then a chorus of voices shouted as one, “She is home!”

            Palkia glared down at a collection of Creekside Citizens including Marius, his entire governance committee, the whole CAS, many Scouts and Town Watch members and an assortment of private citizens. Marius then shouted, as his reinforcements took up positions in front of Annika, “I may not know what exactly is going on here. However, we will not allow you to abduct one of our citizens! Especially not someone as valuable as Miss Annika!”

            Palkia sighed and put a claw to her head. She then said, “She was supposed to learn a lesson about being able to make friends, help defeat Lucius and then be sent home! You all should know that I should be able to just warp her out from behind all of you…”

            Serena then ordered, “Attack formation! She is not backing down!”

            As the Creekside Pokémon spread out and began to ready their attacks, determined to fight, even against a demigoddess, Palkia screamed and then stomped on the ground angrily. Annika then shouted, “I am cared for here. That much is obvious. Don’t send me back to a place where I will never be missed. As far as they know, I just ran away.”

            Palkia saw that the Creekside citizens were not backing down, she then took a deep breath and said, “Fine…. It is true, you are cared for here, Annika. This world does seem to be better off with you than without you. You may stay here. Now, I shall take my leave of you all. I must return to the hunt for Arceus!”

            Palkia began to glow brightly and then, sighing a bit, finished, “You really have taken great advantage of the gift I gave you, Annika. For that, you may keep your new form and your new life.”

            Palkia then warped out of Creekside Town and Aurelia asked, “Annika, while I now have to go ponder why Arceus would be missing, what was Palkia talking about with regard to your past?”

            Ryan then spoke up to awkwardly say, “Well… most of us CAS members have known that Annika was a human girl transported here from another world and turned into a Sneasel for quite some time. We just did not tell anyone else because we did not want anyone to think she was insane.”

            Rocco and Linda looked deeply surprised, as Serena gave Ryan a brief look. Alyssa then said, “I also knew, she is my girlfriend after all.”

            Leo then admitted, “I found her, so I was the first to know that she was once human.”

            Samson then mentioned, “Well, we can forgive their thinking we would think Annika was crazy. Now we have evidence that all of us saw that she was actually human once. I see no reason we should have any more problems on that issue.”

            Marius nodded his agreement and then finished, “It is all pretty strange. However, in light of recent evidence, your previous deceit is forgiven. Let us return to the victory party now.”

            Annika looked deeply relieved and truly honored that the Pokémon of Creekside had come to defend her. Sapphire then mentioned, “If you were wondering why we were all able to show up so quickly, a Pokémon as big as Palkia is hard to miss, even from a decent distance. We all saw her and then realized that you could be in danger. We all rushed over here to see what was happening after that.”

            Annika then replied, “I am very glad that you all did show up. You guys really saved my skin!”

            Alyssa then hugged Annika and kissed her cheek, saying, “I personally don’t know what I would do without you. Now, lets’ go and celebrate.”

            Annika nodded and shared a kiss with Alyssa. Then, the group of Creekside Pokémon began walking back to the square to continue their celebration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story had one more chapter between the climax and the epilogue than most of my stories had. Anyway, if anyone was wondering about the "hunt for Arceus" thing. That was a minor reference to a plot point from my previous PMD series. It was included to say that Ruins of Civilization and Wake of Legends take place in the same "multiverse." Anyway, the next chapter is the epilogue.


	39. Epilogue: The Creekside Adventurers’ Society Lives On

            When Annika woke up the next morning, after having spent the night with Alyssa, she was immensely relieved to still be a Weavile. Determined to continue taking full advantage of her new life as a Pokémon, Annika continued to lead the Creekside Adventurers’ Society.

            Rocco managed to get an apartment in Creekside Town and continued on as a full-time member of the CAS. He only rarely visits his home town of Caverndeep, viewing his duty to them complete after he helped return the Magma Stone to its shrine. He soon began to look for a girlfriend in town, something he has continued to pursue on the side from his adventuring work.

            Linda eventually moved out of her parent’s house. She has not yet become interested in dating, but she has found an apartment and has kept up her work as an active member of the CAS.

            Drake finally managed to find himself a boyfriend, a new Tranquill Scout recruit named Zeke. Drake and Zeke ended up moving into their own small house not far from the house where Ryan’s family lives. Drake also evolved into a Noivern while on a mission, soon after the successful defeat of Lucius’s forces. Soon after evolving, Drake was visited by his father and some other members of his family. They had all become aware of his involvement with the CAS and of the organization’s exploits. Drake’s family congratulated him on his success as a member of the CAS and, even though Drake remained in Creekside and his family remained on the coast, they were somewhat able to rebuild their familial relationship.

            Leo and Sapphire continued their active relationship and it was not long until Leo asked Sapphire to marry him, which she agreed to. The pair were married by Prelate Aurelia and then took some time off from active CAS duty to have and begin raising their Popplio daughter, who did end up being named Leona. The two of them still remain members of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society.  

            Ryan ended up entering into a romantic relationship with Wing-Commander Serena of the Creekside Scouts. After a successful courtship, the two of them were wed by Prelate Aurelia. Ryan maintained his position as official government liaison to the CAS. He also maintains his position as a member of the Creekside Scouts. Ryan did move in with Serena soon after their marriage. So far, Ryan and Serena have not yet had any children. Ryan and Leo served as the best Mons at each other’s weddings, as they had planned to do for years. Serena and Sapphire ended up doing the same thing for each other as bridesmaids.    

            Marius finished out his term as Patrician shortly after the defeat of the AML. He left office in good standing with the public due to his success’s while in office. Those successes included the formation of the CAS and the defeat of the AML, among other things. Marius’s successor kept Aurelia in her office as Prelate of Creekside Town, just as the previous few Patricians had.

            Samson and Alexander continued on in their jobs as Town Watch Captain and Dock Manager respectively. They both continued to serve the Creekside community under Marius’s successor.

            The Intercontinental Mining Corporation managed to expand its operations in both the cavern to the south of Creekside and in the area surrounding the island’s volcano. Their operations managed to bring a boost in economic vitality to the areas in which they had begun to operate.

            Articuno returned to her nest at the summit of Mount Flattop. Once there, she made that sure to stand guard over the place where Yveltal had been born so that it could not be used for evil again.

            Suicune continued to be the patron deity of Creekside Town. She remained elusive, but was still spotted on occasion by the residents of the region.

            The Pokémon of Caverndeep Village managed to have their precious Magma Stone returned to them, on the condition that they would make sure to place it under far more secure protection this time. They did so because they did not want it to be stolen again, now that it had been stolen once before.

            Marcy remained in prison for quite some time after the defeat of Hierophant Lucius and the AML. Since Marcy was clearly repentant over her actions, she did receive decent treatment from the Creekside Watch guards. Annika did visit Marcy on occasion. She did her best to keep Marcy’s spirits up and give her hope that she would one day be free. Marcy later began to receive visits from the Togedemaru survivor of the group that had been tracking the Reavers even after Salen’s death. The survivor, who was named Lawrence, began to develop a bond with Marcy as the two of them talked.

            As for Annika and Alyssa, the two of them moved into a house not far from Leo’s home soon after the victory party. Alyssa began to go on CAS missions as an active member of the society, once the CAS began to take jobs again. At that point, the highly experienced fighters of the CAS were easily able to take on just about any job that could be found within the Creekside area. After Leo and Sapphire, as well as Ryan and Serena had gotten married, Annika proposed to Alyssa one afternoon. While claiming to have been out visiting Marcy in prison, Annika bought engagement rings for herself and her lover. Alyssa eagerly accepted Annika’s offer of marriage and the two of them were wed by Prelate Aurelia, soon after their engagement. Linda served as one of the bridesmaids at their wedding.

\---

            One late morning, Annika had gotten up and out of bed and eaten breakfast with her wife, Alyssa. The two of them had headed north to the CAS office, to see if any jobs had come in recently. They had not checked in at the office yesterday. The various members of the CAS had all been alternating who was in charge of monning the office. Each member had been getting a two-day shift of being responsible for the office being properly take care of and occupied. Drake was on the second day of his shift monning the office that day.

            When Annika and Alyssa entered the office, the sound of conversation could be heard between a male and a female voice. Both of the voices were familiar to Annika.

            Annika did indeed see Drake, who occupied much more space now that he was a Noivern, standing behind the desk of the CAS base. Sitting on the floor nearby and chatting with him was a female Absol, Marcy. Drake noticed Annika and Alyssa entering the room and then smiled at them, saying, “Hello, you two. Marcy and I were just talking about our dates last night.”

            Marcy turned around to smile at Annika and Alyssa. She then said, “Lawrence and I are getting closer and closer. I am almost wondering when he will ‘pop the question?’ Anyway, I don’t think that we have gotten any new jobs requests in today, right Drake?”

            Drake nodded yes and then responded, “Marcy is correct. Also, if I am correct, Ryan is with Serena now. Leo and Sapphire are only just back from a vacation trip to the southern coast with Leona. Linda has been ready for a possible mission, but also has been spending time with her family recently. Rocco is still looking for love, if you know what I mean.”

            Annika and Alyssa both nodded as Marcy then said, “As I believe I mentioned before, Lawrence has some combat experience and is looking for a new job. He is actually quite interested in joining up with us.”

            Alyssa then mentioned, “I still think it was already extremely nice and forgiving of Annika to let you back into the adventurers’ society, Marcy. However, if your boyfriend is qualified, then we could have a vote on letting him join us.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “Marcy, we will look into admitting him as our tenth member in the near future. Tell him that I am receptive to the idea and that we can set up a time for an all-members meeting to vote on his admittance. As for you being let back in the CAS, I had wanted you back in for quite a while during your prison stint, as I have told you before. I am just glad that you were officially released before our wedding, so that you could attend.”

            Marcy nodded and sighed, saying, “I am still sorry that I missed Leo and Sapphire’s wedding. I also missed Ryan getting hitched to Serena to boot. At least I could be one of your bridesmaids, Annika. Anyway, I will be sure to inform Lawrence that he can be considered for CAS membership, once all of the current members can meet at the same time. Thank you for being able to consider him.”

            Annika nodded and then said, “Well, it seems like you two have things under control here. The two of us will go inform our other members that we should have a meeting to consider Lawrence tomorrow evening.”

            Alyssa then smiled down at Annika and said, “After that, we have a date night. So we will want to find the others quickly, right honey?”

            Annika nodded back up at her wife. Drake and Marcy both smiled, finding Annika and Alyssa’s interactions to be cute. Drake then wondered aloud, “I honestly could consider proposing to Zeke soon. Unless he proposes to me first? Anyway, you ladies can head out now. I will make sure that our office is properly taken care of.”

            Annika, Alyssa and Marcy all smiled at and nodded to Drake. Then, the three of them headed out of the CAS base. Marcy headed off to find Lawrence, while Annika and Alyssa set out to, once again, locate the other members of their organization. As she followed Alyssa to go find Leo and Sapphire first, Annika thought, “What a life I have now, friends, a family in the form of my wife, and island-wide recognition. I am glad that I was able to make a difference here. …Palkia, thank you, wherever you are.”   

The view pans up into the sky above Creekside Town, as Marcy splits off from Annika and Alyssa and they all head into town.  

                                                                                                Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Legends: THE END                 

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that is that. I do want to sincerely thank anyone who has read this far. That is true whether or not you read any of my previous series's stories. Even though I most certainly appreciate anyone who has managed to read all six of my stories, or any amount of reading my work that is close to that. As for what comes next, I do roughly plan on writing again in the future. However, it will probably not be for the PMD fandom. I think I have created enough content for this fandom for the time being. I do have a couple of story ideas bouncing around in my head at the moment. So, if any of you are interested in seeing whatever I might write on this website in the future, you can give me a user subscription? Anyway, thank you all for reading, thanks especially to those who gave kudos on any of my stories, including this one, or any of my five ROC stories. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.


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